


How We Came To Be

by Dani_Solace



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, M/M, Romance, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-04 00:28:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5312930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dani_Solace/pseuds/Dani_Solace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico tries to leave camp and Percy stops him. What will happen when Cupid arrives at just the wrong moment?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Setting

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published fanfic. Please review!

**Third Person P.O.V**

It is right after the war with Gaia. Almost all of the campers, from both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood, survived the war between the two camps. The seven, Nico, and Reyna all survived.

                Camp Half-Blood was restored to its original image with the help of the gods. Everyone is starting to settle down, and beginning to make plans with the newly founded alliance with Camp Jupiter.

                Nico is glad that everything is okay, but knows he has to go. So he packs his stuff up, and heads up Half-Blood Hill. Naturally it’s Percy who calls his name telling him to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!

**Nico’s P.O.V.**

It would be Percy. I know he would try to stop me. I know I should leave anyways, but I can’t. I stay because he calls out my name, sounding so sad to see that I am leaving.

                “Nico! Wait up! Why are you leaving we just for everything fixed up? At least tell me why you are going?” Percy calls out to me. But I know, no matter how much I want to, I will never be able to tell him the truth about why I am leaving. I don’t have the  courage for that, never have, never will. So once again, I am going to lie to him and push him away. Not wanting him to know the truth of me being a freak. Of being gay.

                But no, it’s worse than that, not only am I gay. I love _him._ I love Percy Jackson. I have loved him since the beginning. Ever since he protected me from the manticore. I even loved him when I blamed him for Bianca’s death. But I know he will never love me back, all because of that bitch. Fucking Annabeth Chase, she gets to hug, hold, and kiss him whenever she wants. But not me, I just have to watch him from a distance. Wanting the best to happen, but I know that it is impossible.

                I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn around quickly. I blow out a sigh of relief and annoyance because it’s just Percy. “Whoa!” Percy exclaims. “I didn’t meant to scare you!” I roll my eye. “I am a demigod, dumbass. You know we are always getting hunted down and shit. Of course I am suspicious of a random hand on my shoulder.” Percy laughs and I want to smile, but I know that smiling is not a part of my usual personality. So instead I flip my hair out of my eyes, and then look at Percy while trying to look bored as hell. But honestly, I was extremely happy to be able to talk to Percy by himself. _Especially_ since that slut wasn’t glued to his hip.

                “Anyways, what’s wrong? Why are you leaving?” Percy asks me, his face clearly showing the amount of concern he has for me, it felt as good as it did bad. It was nice that he was concerned about me and my safety. But at the same time it hurt because it was probably the kind of concern you get for your little brother or friend.

                A warm breeze paces by, which shouldn’t be possible near the end of October. But when you are a demigod, you get used to crazy shit. So, I don’t think much of it, until I remember who is a friend of spring breezes. Cupid.

                I don’t want to be right, but I know I am when I see him as I turn my head to the left. There he is. Cupid. In all his glory, the fucking douche bag himself. With his bright red eyes, handsome face, and goddamned wings. _Fuck,_ I think, _perfect timing asshole._ Here to tell him my secret? _Best fucking news_ I have heard in a long time. _Just fuck off and don’t tell him anything._ I think violently at him. But sadly, I don’t have the force meaning no magic Jedi mind trick for me.

                When Percy realizes that I am not looking _away_ from _him_ but _at someone_ he turns around to face Cupid. With my _perfect_ fucking luck Cupid decides to open his fucking big ass mouth. “Do you _really_ want to know what’s wrong?” He mocks, “why he’s _really_ leaving? Do you _really_ want to know Percy?” Cupid smirks the moment he stops talking and I find it both attractive and scary.

                Percy gets a wild and protective look in his eyes and lunges at Cupid. He grabs riptide out of his pocket and uncaps it. The sword grows to its full length as Percy grabs Cupid’s shirt. Percy pushes Cupid onto the nearest surface. Which just so happens to be Thalia’s tree. Lastly, he put riptide’s edge less than an inch away from Cupids throat who only looks amused.

                “Who are you and what do you want?” Percy snarls his lip curling as he speaks. His tone clearly saying that he isprepared to hurt Cupid in the worst possible way.  I almost feel sorry for Cupid. Almost.

                “I am Cupid and what I want to do is tell you about your friend, Nico.” He says smirking again. It’s like he just doesn’t give a shit that there is a sword ready to slice his throat. “why do you want to mess with Nico?” Percy snarls his voice heavily laced with both anger and defensiveness.

                Cupid glances at me and then back at Percy. His smirk widens and I realize what he’s about to do. He’s about to tell Percy that I love him. I panic and want to shout, ’don’t trust that lying bastard! Don’t believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth!” But I know that won’t work, if anything it will make Percy believe Cupid. So, I try to shadow travel away. I feel a light tug in my gut and fell the cold shadows come closer to me.

                But a split second before I escape, Cupid laughs and it feels like my powers are ripped away from me. I feel weak and vulnerable. I can’t defend myself and I can’t run, I can’t hide. I can’t escape. Cupid is forcing me to face the truth, and I hate it because I am not ready. I will probably never be ready.

                Before I can yell, Cupid tells me in a completely honest but cruel tone, “don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” He laughs cruelly before he continues to talk in his cruel tone. “”I won’t tell him Nico. That’s your job if you ever get the guts to tell him.” He laughs again. “I am just here to have a little fun right now. I want to mix things up.”

                “Why can’t I leave then?” I ask tired of his fucking petty games. “Because you are a part of my games. A vital piece to my plan. The only catch is that as I say these next few words you have to keep your mouth shut.”

                I start to say, “over my dead body,” but I realize that no sound is coming out. I am breathing just fine. I just can’t speak and it is pissing me the fuck off.

                Percy looks back at me and realizes what just happened. He turns back to Cupid and, furious that he has done something to me.  “What the fuck did you just do to Nico?”

                Cupid laughs. “Nothing serious it will wear off as soon as I am done talking to you. Because after all Perseus, I came all this way to mess with _you_. Or more truthfully, make you realize what’s going on in that mess of a head you’ve got there.” He laughs and then continues. “Because if you think that you’ve got a good hold on love,” he pauses. “You’re wrong.”

                As soon as he says the word wrong, everything disappears into a warm summer breeze. I blink and when I open my eyes Percy is right in front of me. _The fucking bastard switched places with me_ , I think. Sure enough, when I look around Percy, Cupid is standing _exactly_ I where I had been only moments before.

                For some reason, Percy is frozen in place and looks both guilty and ashamed of something. I am not sure what he is upset about until I feel something warm run down the side of my neck. I almost laugh because it’s such a small nick that I didn’t even realize I had it until now. But what stops me from laughing is the look of guilt in his eye. Easy to see in Percy’s beautiful sea green eyes. “N-Nico,” he stutters. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.  It was an accident, I swear. I- I thought, I- I mean I didn’t know he was trading you places.”

                The sincerity in his voice shocks me. So, I answer back with just as much sincerity and honesty, when I realize that I can speak. “Percy, it’s okay. I know you would never hurt me intentionally.” Just like that my ability to speak is gone and he just continues to look at me with concern.

                We just stand there taking in the moment. Breathing in the cold October air. Percy moves riptide away from my neck. But his hand stays where it is, holding onto the front of my shirt tightly. The part of my shirt that is right above my heart. His face is only inches away from mine. Close enough for me to feel his warm breath caress my skin. His green eyes shining and his cheeks are light shade of pink from the cold breezes. All I want to do is kiss him and pull him close to me. Then suddenly Percy starts to slowly lean towards me. I don’t know what is about to happen and quite frankly I couldn’t care less because he is so close to me. So close to brushing his lips against mine. I close my eyes and wait to feel his lips on mine.

At this moment Cupid decides to be a dick head and coughs and makes us both jump, and reminding us that we have a stuck up god in our presence. Percy let’s go of my shirt and faces Cupid. “Sorry to interrupt such a romantic moment.” Cupid says sarcastically. “But… I’ve got places to go, errands to run.” His wings flap once in an impatient manner before he continues. “So, I’ll just get to the point.”

                He looks at Percy with a wide smirk on his face.  “To be honest,” cupid continues.” This is all about you Perseus. All about you and how you really feel. About the people you love. Not the love you give to your friends and family. No, the ones you love with _all_ your heart. The _ones_ , or really _one,_ you fantasize about Perseus.” I feel my face start to grow hot hearing that Percy fantasizes about someone.

                “I don’t know what you are talking about!” Percy snarls, looking both extremely furious and embarrassed.. Cupid just laughs. “You can’t lie to me Perseus. Your friend Nico tried to. That didn’t work out; he still ended up telling me the truth. With a little help of course.”

                Percy lunges at Cupid, but it was useless. Cupid just disappears and reappears just a few feet away from where he is before. “You just can’t seem to get a hold on love again, can you?” Cupid mocks. “Every night you are left wondering where Annabeth is. Because she completely avoids you unless it’s necessary for public appearance.”

                Percy looks like he has given up now. All because the truth is right in front of him, he can’t hide and avoid it anymore.  I feel so uncomfortable listening to this conversation. Hearing all about Percy’s issues with _her._

                But I still can’t say or do anything thanks to Cupid. I have to watch him suffer, and it hurts so badly. All I want to do is help him, and I can’t because I am frozen right where I am.

                Cupid decides that he hasn’t hurt Percy enough and continues to pick at him, causing more emotional wounds. “You don’t even fantasize about _women_ anymore. They don’t interest you, in any way anymore.”  He laughs when he glances at me and sees how ted my face has become. “In fact, the _man_. Or more accurately, _boy_ you fantasize about is in your circle of friends.”

                Percy look devastated as if the worst possible thing about him has been told to the entire world. I am still completely red, but hearing that he has started to become interested in guys… Well, it gives me some hope that _somebody_ he likes might like me.  Until I remember that whoever he likes is in his circle of friends. Which as far as I know, I am not a part of.

“                So, for all you know,” Cupid says as he walks towards Thalia’s tree where I am still stuck. Percy turns around toward me and Cupid as he leans on the tree next to me and finally continues to speak. “Your next true love,” he pauses. “Could be standing right in front of you.”

                Percy blushes and looks at the ground like he is studying his shoes. It takes me a moment, but I realize why. I am the one standing directly in front of him.  Now, I start to blush too.  I look at the ground to hide my face and pretend that what he just said doesn’t bug me.

                But it does bug me, because I don’t know if Cupid id being serious or just taunting me.  I mean he doesn’t like me like that, does he? If he does that’s fantastic, but not going to do anything even if he does like me. All because he is a loyal, caring person and he just wouldn’t hurt Annabeth like that.  I mean that’s the reason I fell in love with him in the first place, because he is such a funny and loving person.

                I see a flash of movement behind Percy, who is still staring down at his feet. I look up and around him and I see Cupid. Cupid is a good yard or two away from Percy. He has his bow string pulled back and an arrow aimed right at Percy.

                I remember how much pain the arrow had caused me. Even though it wasn’t physical pain but emotional, it still hurt twice as bad as any physical injury I have ever had. That arrow just takes your worst memories of love, and makes you relive them.

                I later heard from Jason that he had seen my memories and had felt my feelings. To be honest, I hate that he did but because of that I gained a new ally. But Percy is already my ally, and I don’t want him to go through that. Even though I don’t want to go through that again, I want to protect Percy from that more. If it means that Percy finds out that I love him, so be it. I am _not_ going to let him go through any more fucking pain right now. Especially any pain that would be caused by that asshole, who just so happens to be the god of love.

                So without thinking much I grab Percy’s shoulders and switch him places by pushing him against Thalia’s tree. I hold his shoulders down. So that when he struggles against me, I won’t have such a hard time fighting to keep him against the tree. It takes Percy longer than I thought it would take him though. Because at first he just stares at me in shock, and then he notices Cupid’s arrow pointing straight at me.

                That’s when Percy starts to struggle and trade places with me as he shouts and panics. “No Nico! Don’t do this! I can take the arrow myself!” Suddenly he stops fighting me, but continues shouting telling me not to do this.

                Cupid laughs, as if everything is going according to plan.  Truthfully, I didn’t care that he was getting what he wanted. I just wanted to do one last thing for Percy before I had to leave. This time for good because then he would know that I loved him, and things would never be the same.

                Cupid, instead of making things easy and just shooting me, had to talk. “Percy stop moving, if he wants to take the arrow for you, let him.” He laughs. “It might be a lot worse than last time Nico. But, then again, I don’t know. I have never shot someone with my arrow twice.  You sure you want to take the arrow for Percy?”

                When I don’t move or answer, Cupid takes it as me agreeing or saying yes despite Percy’s protests and lets the bow string snap. I prepare for the worst and put my forehead on Percy’s shoulder near his neck. But then I feel like my powers return to me, I think of Cabin Thirteen as I pull the shadows towards us as I grip Percy’s shoulders tighter so that the shadow traveling wouldn’t be as bad on Percy. I hear Percy scream, and probably at the last possible second I zapped us away into the shadows.

                As we travel trough the shadows, I feel Percy start to slip from my grip. I panic and pull Percy closer and move my face into the crook of his neck, leaving absolutely no space between us. Percy gasps as this happens, I don’t know whether that is a result of me pulling him closer, my face being in the crook of his neck , or him realizing how close to being lost in the shadows he was.

                When I can see again, I realize pulling Percy closer to me in the shadows, placing my face in the crook of his neck, and shadow traveling to _my_ cabin might have not been the best idea.  The reasons I say this is I am in my cabin with Percy. _Alone._ My hands on his shoulders and my face or more accurately my lips barely millimeters away from the exposed skin right next to his shirt collar, and there is _no_ space in between us. All I want to do is kiss him or his neck. It also doesn’t help that his breathing is ragged probably from the shadow traveling, but I just can’t help thinking _what if_ he is breathing so hard because I am so close to his neck. I want to kiss his neck so bad just to see his reaction, good or bad.

                But I don’t, instead I just bring my head back and look up into his eyes as his breathing starts to return to normal.  He looks back at me and does something I don’t expect he places his left hand on my waist and I struggle not to gasp, or worse moan because of the feeling it gives me. Then he puts his right hand behind my neck.

                This time I couldn’t help making a sound, and it was bad almost a dead give away to how I felt. Not only did I gasp loudly, but I also softly moaned and at the same time my body acted on its own accord. My nails dug in to his shoulder for a few seconds and Percy softly moaned into my ear, which in turn made me move my face back near his neck, breathing hard.

                I feel Percy smile as he whispers into my ear between hard breaths that do _not_ help my breathing. “Thanks… for trying to save me… back there…. Usually I am… the one saving…. People…. But next time you try…. to do… something nice for me... _Don’t …_ put yourself….. in danger for me.”  He chuckles and his breathing calms as he says the next couple of sentences. “I actually thought that you were going to let yourself get hit by that arrow. I should have known you would have shadowed traveled us away at the last second.”

                I just bury my face into the crook of his because I actually didn’t have that plan. But, I don’t want him to think that I would have gladly taken that arrow for him any day of the week. I really hurts that he thinks that I was just messing with him. Without realizing it, I had started crying, soaking the collar of his shirt. Percy strokes my hair as he asks the question he should have asked before he said that I was messing with him. “You really did plan to take that arrow for me didn’t you?”

                When I nod into his neck, Percy sounds shocked and stops stroking my hair. “Wh-why didn’t you plan to shadow travel?” I answered him reluctantly. “I literally could not have shadow traveled before that moment. I think that Cupid somehow took my powers away from me.” Percy starts to stroke my hair again, and for some reason I find it very calming.

                “You were really prepared to take Cupid’s arrow for me. Knowing very well what it does and that it could have been ten times worse than last time.” He makes me face him by pushing my waist a little and guiding my face with his hand under my chin. Then he carefully wipes the tears off of my face.

                We stand there in silence until I say honestly and with all my heart, “yes. Yes, I was prepared to take that arrow for you. And I would do it again in a heartbeat if I needed to.  Percy smiles slightly at that.

                Without any warning he starts to lean towards me. My heart and thoughts race. I think, _is this really happening._ The moment I have been waiting years for is finally here.  I close my eyes and lean in towards him. I can feel his breath on my face and we are inches, no, centimeters away from kissing.

                Then something ruins it, there is a knock on the door and my eyes snap open. He is literally only half an inch away from kissing me. Even though someone knocked, we stay right where we are. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but all I want to do is close the small space between us and kiss him.

                Then we hear the sound of my door opening, and just like that, the best thing that could have ever happened to me is ruined. Because we both jump away from each other just as Jason walks into my cabin.

                “Hey you guys alright? We saw some sort of fight on Half-Blood Hill. Was that you?” Jason asks with concern. The first thing out of my mouth is a lie. “No.” Jason then gets a confused look on his face because Percy said no too. But he said it with a kind of panic. Jason apparently decides to let it slide because he says, “okay. Well I’ll go and tell everyone that nothing major happened.”

                Percy responds to him nervously, “yeah. I should probably help you with that. See you later Nico. Hope you decide to stay at camp.” The last sentence is still laced in nervousness, but it also sounds completely honest. With that last sentence ringing in my head, Percy walks out the door. Once Percy is gone, he gives me a quick “sorry” look and then follows Percy out the door, making sure that he shuts it behind himself.

                I sit down and cover my face with my hands, because if Jason gave me a “sorry” look, it means he pieced everything he just saw together. It also means that Jason is going to subtly, not so subtly tell Percy that if he hurts me that something bad is going to happen in some way shape or form. 

                But I think back to how close I was, how close I came to kissing the guy of my dreams. Then Jason _had_ to walk right in like he owned the place. For the second time that day, I think, _fuck, perfect timing asshole._ My dream almost came true. But, with my luck, that’s the closest I will ever get to my dream.  


	3. Chapter 3

**Percy’s P.O.V.**

I rush out of Nico’s cabin after giving some lame ass excuse, that makes me cringe at the thought of how bad I must have looked in both Jason’s and Nico’s point of view.  I stop and shake my head, to clear my mind.  Then I start walking, ok, running towards my cabin. I hear Jason call out my name when I am about half way to my cabin.

                I start sprinting as fast as I can because I don’t feel like dealing with whatever bull crap Jason wants to say. But being the asshole that he is, he just flies above me and gets to my cabin before me. I give up and slowly walk the few feet that are left.

                “What do you want?” I snap at him, annoyed at how persistent he is. Jason just looks at me in a way that tells me that he is calculating what to say next. “What happened on Half-Blood Hill?” He asks, when he finally decides that the best way to ask me is bluntly. “Nothing! Nothing happened on Half-Blood Hill!” He just rolls his eyes.”Whatever happened, I don’t care. Just don’t hurt Nico. He’s so used to running away when he gets hurt; you might just lose him over something simple.” He pauses. “There are so many factors to this that you don’t know or understand.”

                I glare at him. Obviously I don’t know him that well, but I’m going to. Even if it kills me, I will get to know Nico. Jason sighs out of frustration, to be honest, I’m frustrated too. “All I mean to say is be careful Percy. Be careful.” With those last few words repeating in my head, he walks away.

                I walk into my cabin and shut the door. Immediately everything goes silent. The words stop repeating, and my thoughts come to a screeching halt. I go over to my bed and sit down. I stare at the wall across from me, hoping that my thoughts will leave me alone.

                But, of course, no such luck. My thoughts start racing, going and a million miles per hour, showing me a rerun of the day. How Cupid had pointed out all of my worst fears and made them worse. How Nico was prepared to take Cupid’s arrow for me. Knowing it would be worse than the last time he had been shot.

                Then the part of the day that caught my attention most. When I leaned in and hoped for the best, the moment that I almost kissed Nico.

                I know what Cupid said is true. You can’t lie to love. The truth is this, I don’t love Annabeth anymore and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t love me either. Another part of the bitter sweet truth is that I think I am gay, or at least bi. Because, if I am being honest, I think I have more than a crush on Nico.

                The sad part about that is I don’t even know if Nico likes me. He might have almost let me kiss him, and he might hace almost taken Cupid’s arrow for me. But he might think he owes me, for all the times I saved his life. Even though, he has saved my sorry ass more times than I can count. Or he could have felt intimidated.  I mean I am a child of the Big Three, but then again so is he. Or maybe he was too shocked to react. But, then again, he did start to lean into what I hope would have been an amazing kiss. But with my luck, that asshole, Jason walked in and ruined the whole thing.

                _Fuck,_ I think, _I hate it when my thoughts contradict themselves._ I mean, _seriously_ , how much more fucking confusing can it get! I mean come on! It’s literally an argument with yourself! How much worse could it get!

                All I know for sure, is that I am glad it’s Saturday. Because I don’t have to leave my cabin, thank the gods. The reason I say that is that if I had to teach sword fighting right now, I would probably impale  one of the campers. I’m just that distracted with my thoughts right now.

                So luckily I get to be by myself and think, at least until dinner. But with my thoughts racing how they are, that won’t take very long. Sure enough, the moment I think that I hear the signal for dinner. I walk out of my cabin and head towards the dining pavilion.

                A nymph gives me a slice of blue pepperoni pizza, and I take a sip of my blue pepsi. I get up and sacrifice my favorite part, the crust, and ask the gods to help me sort out this mess of a life I have. _Except for Hera,_ I think suddenly panicking, not wanting to disappear again. I calm my thoughts  and sit down to finish eating.

                When I finish my food, I leave quickly as possible. Heading towards the sword arena, wanting to decapitate some dummies with my sword. Knowing that when I go to the campfire, Annabeth will be acting super lovey dovey towards me. Then after words we will walk next to the beach near the woods. Annabeth will then perform a vanishing act into the woods with Piper. All so they can have, “girl talk,” in private. I will be left with Jason to have a “conversation.” That “conversation,” will involve awkward stares into the distance and moving around to satisfy our ADHD.

                 I get to the arena and pull out riptide. I start slashing and stabbing. I finally decide to end the dummy’s suffering and behead it. I go through three dummies in this manner before some dumbass puts their hand on my shoulder to get my attention.

                I am still in attack everything mode so I turn around quickly and sweep my leg out intending bring their feet out from under them. But they hop over my leg and bring their sword down towards my neck. I quickly bring my sword up and block the strike. Then swing my sword at them.

                At the moment I don’t recognize this moron because I am too focused on taking this person down. All I know is that they are wearing a lot of black, to the point they look similar to a shadow. We then both step back and circle around each other once, before I make my move. I quickly step forward and make a stabbing motion, which they go to block leaving an opening on their other side. So my stabbing motion turns into a slice as I maneuver my sword around theirs. I then hit the person with the flat of my blade, which makes them jump a little. I use that to my advantage and stab at them before they land on the ground throwing them off balance.

                I know it works just looking at the way they are standing, because now they have a bad center of gravity. I then sweep my leg out again before they can regain their balance. They stumble and start to fall sideways which would be the opposite off helpful. So I shove them hard enough that they land on their back and makes it hard to breath, but light enough so there isn’t any real injuries.

                I then pin them down by putting one of my legs on either side of them and then dropping down on my knees, so that I am barely hovering over them. I press my forearm against their neck (with more than necessary pressure I’ll admit) and have my other arm ready, my sword ready to go.

                They cough and try to speak taking a wheezy breath with each word. “So.. Not… Cool… Dude!” Their voice rips me back into reality because I realize who it is. The person I have pinned beneath me, is Nico Di Angelo. 

                The next thing I realize is that I, Percy Jackson, straddling NIco Di Angelo. My forearm is across his neck and my face is only inches away from his. For the third time that day. But, instead of letting go or moving. I freeze and look and him, scanning this whole scene. His dark hair  looks a little sweaty at the roots and the rest is messily resting around his face.. His face slightly flushed from exercising and my forearm cutting off some of his air intake. His dark eyes are looking straight into mine, they are shinning happily. But they look, nervous too.

                “Hey, uh… Percy? Do.. You think… You could… Maybe move… Your arm?” He wheezes. I then realize where and when I am, and remove of the pressure on his throat without moving my arm. I throw my sword a few feet away, then I place my newly freed hand next to his head. My body grows tired and I let myself relax a little. My body  just barely hovering over Nico’s body.

                Now that I cooled down I smile and apologize. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was you.” He rolls his eyes and gives me a faint smirk. “Obviously!” He says sarcastically. “But for Hades’s sake, pay more attention!  One of these days you are going to seriously injure someone.” I laugh and Nico’s smirk turns into a smile. I stop laughing and just look at Nico’s smile. It’s a beautiful smile and it drives me insane because I have never seen a sexier smile. I then realize that the last time I saw him smile like this, was when he was younger. First coming to camp, so I just look at him and take in that beautiful smile.

               “So ,what are you doing here? Other than trying to commit suicide by trying to sneak up on my while I am training?”  I ask curiously. his smile fades a little. “Oh. Uh, I just.. You know what?” “What?” I ask tilting my head a little.  “I don’t know.” Nico says.  “I honestly have no clue.”

               “I kind of followed a silent call over here. I can’t really explain it.” The smile disappears from his face. “But when I saw you hacking away at those dummies, well, I knew something was wrong. And, well, I was and still am concerned because I don’t like seeing you like that.”

               I don’t know what to say, because those words are sweet, and the way he said them truthfully and nervously made them even sweeter.  His face is flushed slightly because of embarrassment and all I want to do is tell him how cute, and how hot he looks. The best part is that he’s not trying, he’s just naturally this way. The way his hair just falls  into place,  his eyes gazing carefully into mine,  and the cute pink glow on his usually pale cheeks. Then I realize what I need to say.

               I am about to say it when Nico shifts one of his legs and accidently grazes my crotch. Knowing my voice will now be almost a dead giveaway, I hesitate. But then I realize, I need to tell him my voice being a give away or not. “Thank you for caring so much Nico.” I tell him ignoring how my voice sounds rough. Nico blushes almost the second he hears my voice.   “You’re welcome, Percy.” He say honestly before his voice starts to sound rough too. “Whether you have known it or not, I have always cared.”

               Those words send a chill down my spine in the best way making my back arch slightly and I gasp as quietly as possible. Trying to hide the fact I had such a strong reaction to his voice. But then he smirks and I know that he heard, I feel my cheeks heat up and I look away from Nico for a quick second. When I look back, Nico is smiling again. Which causes me to smile back, despite how embarrassed I feel, then the sound of footsteps and people talking ruins the moment.

               I get up slowly, placing both my feet on one side of him. Then I put my hand out to help him up. Nico hesitates for a moment and then takes my hand. When he takes my hand, I try my hardest not to gasp at the shock of tingling electricity that just shot up my arm. Unfortunately, since I didn’t gasp, I made a sort of squeak. NIco then gives me a funny  as I help him to his feet.

_Fuck,_ I think, _what the fuck do I say to cover_ that _up._  But before I could say anything, NIco smirks. “Squeaking is not in your profile! You know that right? You are only allowed to make manly shouts!” As he talks he makes wild hand gestures, when he pauses he coughs and then continues his voice sounding deeper. “Do you understand? Huh, do you cupcake?” I smile realizing who he was impersonating.  “I said!” Nico exclaims loudly. “Do! You! Under! Stand!” I nod as I laugh because he had just succeeded in sounding just like Coach Hedge. I think he also got shorter for a moment.

               Nico just smiles until I stop laughing, and there is only one reason I stop laughing. I realize that I am still holding his hand. I don’t have a problem with holding his hand. I’m just nervous that someone will walk in the arena and get the wrong idea. Or worse they’ll figure it out and realize what is happening. Maybe even before I do.

               So, reluctantly , I let go of Nico’s hand and place that hand on the back of my neck. I can still feel the warmth of Nico’s hand on mine, I actually feel like I am alone now. Even though all I did was let go of his hand, I mean he’s still standing right in front of me. Something about my facial expression must have showed my confused, jumbled up emotions. Since Nico’s smile to transform into a look of concern. “Percy?” He asks cautiously, like he is worried of becoming the next thing I decapitate.

               “Thanks for earlier.” I blurt out trying to get my thoughts and emotions off my chest. “What do you mean ‘thanks for earlier’?” He asks me, his voice clearly telling me that he doesn’t know where this conversation has gone or where it is going. “I mean, “ I explain, “ thanks for almost taking Cupid’s arrow for me.” Suddenly he snaps back into his usual self and looks at the ground. “It was nothing.” He states calmly his voice sounding here with me, yet so far away in some hidden corner of his mind. “Cupid already hit me with his stupid arrow.”

               “Yeah,” I say letting my emotions guide me, as I step forward putting my hand under his chin. Then applying a light force, I make him look me in the eye. “But,” I continue explaining with his face only inches away from mine. “Cupid said that he had never shot anyone twice. “ “Ha! He was bluffing.” Nico replies in an overly confident tone. “I mean come on! People fall in _love_ all the time.”  He makes overly dramatic air quotes at the word love.

               “Yeah, but what if he meant true love. “ I explain. “As cheesy as that might sound, I think that is what he meant. People get only one shot at true love.” I pause for a brief moment before continuing, spilling some of my darkest thoughts out into the open. “He also meant that true love is only born in times of peace.” I tell him in a defeated tone, Nico looks a little sadder than usual as I continue letting him listen to some off my darkest thoughts. “That love, that is true and meant to be, only grows and becomes stronger in time of war. But if it is not meant to be, it will be born in times of war. Then this love born in war, will easily shatter and fall apart when the war is over. When all has become peaceful.” I say almost laughing at how poetic I sound at this moment. But despite wanting to just walk away, no run away, I force myself to only take a few steps back and continue speaking.

               “That must be right, because everyone knows that love created during war, is still love. But it just can’t survive after the war, when everything is calm. “ I try to say it, but it comes out more like a question.

               Nico sighs sadly and doesn’t even try to hide the tear that is now running down his pale face. “Is this about Annabeth?” He asks me his voice shaking with concern.  His voice, his concern, and that single tear still slowly tracing his face it all tears at my emotions, every single one that I have been hiding.  The sorrow, the anger, all of it just breaks free in one chocked sob. I try to stop, but I no longer have full control of myself. To the point where I can only manage to cry silently, only a few tears falling from my eyes.

               Nico takes a step forward and holds his arms out for me. I take a cautious step forward not wanting to let everything fall apart.  Another tear runs down his face and it makes me cry a little harder. All I want to do is run into his arms and tell him everything despite the consequences. I feel like it would make everything just correct itself somehow, some way.  But I resist the urge, still scared of the consequences.  So I just stand there, crying and trying not to break down completely.

               But as I see yet another tear roll down his face, it hurts me so bad that I take two steps toward him.  Then stop one step short, realizing that in the end I could get hurt more than I already am if I am not careful. I am just about to step back again when Nico steps towards  me and carefully wraps his arms around my waist.  All I can do is wrap my arms around him, as he holds on to me. He pulls me closer to him with his arms and then rubs my back. As if he was trying to tell me through his actions that he is here for me. As long as I needed him, he would be here. Even if he asked me to stay forever, he would. 

               This unspoken message broke me and I started crying. Sobs, snot, and all.  _I just wish Annabeth would end it,_ I think. _i just don’t_ love _her anymore. She obviously doesn’t love me anymore either._ I keep thinking as I cry. I pull my arms closer to me as I bury my face into the crook of his neck. Knowing that doing this is going end up hurting me, but even so I don’t want to let Nico go. I just can’t stop falling in love with him, and this fact makes me cry harder.

               After what feels like forever, I start to calm down. Then after a few moments, my breathing returns to normal. I take deep breaths with my forehead resting in the crook of his neck.  Ignoring the fact that  I feel calm now, I stay in Nico’s arms feeling safer this way. This moment just feels so perfect; I close my eyes and try to memorize everything. The way he smells is similar to a cold, crisp winter night with wilting rose petals blowing by on the breeze.  The sound of his breath only mere inches away from my ear. The way his arms felt wrapped around me. The way my forehead fit perfectly in the crook of his neck, like two puzzle pieces placed together.

                I take a deep breath as I think of what to do next, but I don’t want to move. I feel like I could stay here like this forever. But I end up taking a step back, knowing I need to talk about why I broke down. I know what I am going to tell him.  I am going to tell him my fears, my doubts, and if I find the courage to. My feelings for him.

                “You guessed correctly. This whole thing, this whole mess, is about Annabeth. I hate this mess. I hate Cupid. All he did was make all of my fears, all of my doubts worse.” I pause before admitting both my fear and a truth. “Nico I don’t think she loves me anymore. But that’s not the worst part, it’s that I don’t love her anymore. I haven’t for a while.” I look into Nico’s dark eyes. “I don’t know why it happened. It just... Happened.”

                “Do you know when it happened?” Nico asks me, sounding exhausted. “ I think it was about two weeks ago, on the Argo two. Annabeth was sleeping with me in my room because this helped stop the nightmares of Tartarus. But one night, a nightmare reached Annabeth.  That night she dreamed about our encounter with Misery.” I know I sound lifeless, but I can’t help it. I can’t help it because every emotion has gone numb. I am just stating facts and avoiding emotion.  I take a deep breath and continue.  “She wanted me to say I’m sorry for what I did to Misery. That I regretted what I had done to Misery.”

                I look down at my feet, knowing that if I keep looking into his sad eyes I would break down again. “But, I don’t.” I explain. “I can’t be sorry. What I did saved out lives. In my eyes Misery is just another monster that tried to kill us. So, I returned the favor by trying to kill her.” As I finish saying that I look up at Nico, who is now looking at me with sympathy. “What did you do to Misery?” He asks me softly. I know he is only trying to help me, but I don’t want to lose him too. So I look at him, and shake my head. “I don’t want to lose you too. I have lost too much in this past year. I can’t lose you too.”

                “You won’t lose me, Percy.” I just shake my head again. Nico takes a small step towards me. “Percy, I’m being serious. You won’t lose me. I’m staying at Camp. Trust me. It will make you feel better. I promise it will. I promise I won’t judge you for what you did.  You also know that I won’t tell anybody because I am a child of Hades.” I laugh because that is actually funny and I am somewhat insane by now. Nico cracks a small smile before continuing, his face becoming serious again. “Lastly,” he adds. “I am pretty sure I have seen far worse in the fields of punishment, and don’t forget I went to Tartarus too.” I slightly shudder from the two most hellish places that exist, knowing firsthand how hellish they can get. “So,” he finishes, “Do you trust me?”

                I do trust him, I have for a long time. So, I begin to tell him what happened that last day in Tartarus. “To get to the doors of death, we had to pass thousand of monsters unnoticed. To do that, we needed to be shrouded in a death mist. So, having no other option, we went to Misery. Who agreed to help us. But once we were covered in her death mist, she attempted to kill us.” I look at Nico who looks like he wants to violently murder something before continuing. “She started attacking us with these poisons that oozed out of the ground. The poison was advancing at us from every direction. In a panic a took riptide out and tried to attack her. But because of her death mist we couldn’t hurt her, while she could harm us easily.”

                I pause and take in a breath before reliving my part in that battle. “After a few seconds of pure fear, I thought that the poisons must have water in them. That if they did, I could possibly control them. Without any other ideas, I tried to control it by willing it to stop. When the poison stopped, I knew I could control it.” A tear runs down my face because I am so scared of what Nico’s reaction will be. But I am determined to give him a chance, and continue telling him what I did to end that battle.  
“I made the poison encase Misery From the ground up to her shoulders.  She started to scream the moment the mixed poisons touched her. She tried to escape, but the poison just followed her every move. Every moment her screams got louder and she cried even harder.”

                Another tear rolls down my face, the fear starting to get to me. “Out of vicious instinct, I controlled her tears. I – I  started to drown her in her own tears.”  I glance at Nico sure that I have scared him, but he only looks slightly shocked. I know that the next part is probably the worst, but I continue anyways. “The  only reason I stopped, is because Annabeth asked me too.  Even then I didn’t the first time she asked, and when I did stop it took _everything_ in me to stop.” I sigh, looking down at the ground. “That’s what happened. That’s what I did.”

                Nico takes a step towards me so that he is only inches away from me. He puts his hand under my chin and pushes my head up, so that I am looking him in the eyes. “You did what you had to.” He says seriously. “Quite frankly, in my opinion, Annabeth should be grateful that you did that. If you hadn’t done that Percy, you would both be dead. _No one_ wants you guys to be dead. Percy, I – I,” he stammers nervously before taking a deep breath and continuing. “Percy, I don’t care what you had to do to stay alive. All that matters to me, is that you are alive. That you are living and breathing, right here, right now.”

                For a breathtaking moment, I think he is going to kiss me, which makes my whole mood a lot better. But instead he takes a step back, puts his hands in his pocket, and looks at the ground. “Thanks for not freaking the fuck out.” I joke trying to get him to look at me. Which works and the moment he looks up I flash him a small smile, hoping he’ll smile back. Luckily he doesn’t leave me disappointed, and the smile he gives me makes my heart skip a beat.

                “To be honest,” Nico says. “I probably would have done something just as bad or worse to Misery. _Especially,_ if I was placed in a situation similar to yours. Plus Misery is immortal; she has probably already recovered from that physically.   God need a good scare now and a then.” As soon as he says that I look up t the sky, expecting to see some lightning or something. But against all odds, the sky remained calm.  I look at Nico, confused how there wasn’t even a little thunder. He gives me a huge smile and says, “controlled weather.” I laugh realizing that Zeus must be pissed, but can’t do shit.

                Nico smiles and looks like he might even laugh, when a familiar female voice ruins it all. “Hey, Percy! I’ve been looking for you everywhere! I should have known you would be in the sword arena!” I don’t respond because I know it’s Annabeth. Nico’s smile immediately becomes a scowl. I have no clue why he ates her. I just know that it started after the Titan War and got worse after the Giant War.

                “Hey!” Annabeth continues. “Seaweed brain! I’m talking to you! Earth to Perseus!” And that’s when I snap because it’s bullshit that she just used my full name. “What do you _fucking_ want Annabeth?” “Damn.” Annabeth says sounding annoyed. “Calm down. I just wanted to come get you for the campfire, so we can walk together.” I shake my head, my anger deflating and turning into depression. “I don’t feel like going. Can I take a raincheck?”

                Annabeth tries to look hurt, probably to make me feel guilty so that I will go. But instead of hurt, she looks like she is panicking. Even though she looks like she is panicking, I still feel guilty for some reason. But I push the feeling down, determined to stand my ground. “But Percy,” she whines. “All of our friends will be there. We made plans with them _remember_?” I thought I was angry before, but now I know what anger is. It’s when you feel like you’re about to explode: and right now, if I explode, I don’t know what will happen.

                “ _Well,_ Perseus Jackson?” Annabeth says, and I feel something inside of me snap and I can feel my rage burning inside of me. “No!” I yell putting my anger in every syllable. “No, _Annabell Chase!_ I don’t.” Annabeth looks both shocked and confused. But I continue still furious, still not giving two fucks. “I don’t remember any _plans_! _I_ don’t make plans! _Jason_ doesn’t make plans! _You_ and _Piper_ make plans! Then any plans,”I make angry air quotes, “’ _we_ ’ make, end up being _you_ and _Piper_ hanging out in the woods!”

                “Usually that’s not a problem!” I yell. “But I get dragged along with your _little plans!_ Then I am stuck with Jason trying to have some sort of decent conversation!” I throw my arms up in frustration, my hands then form fists as I continue yelling. “Trust me, I can’t get him to talk much! All because _you_ and _Piper_ throw us into an awkward situation!” I take a deep breath and speak spitefully through my teeth. “Since that is what _always_ happens how about you and Piper go have your hangout? You can send Jason over here. Then we’ll _actually_ have _something_ to do.” Annabeth looks like she is about to cry. Nico looks uncomfortable because he is shifting his weight from side to side and is biting his bottom lip.

                So once again I am forced to be the fucking peace keeper, leaving me with no choice. I am forced to got to the campfire. But I refuse to leave this soon. I sigh before making my compromise. “Annabeth start heading to the campfire. I’ll go, but I need to finish my conversation with Nico.” She doesn’t like it, I can tell. But honestly, I don’t give a fuck. When she seed that I’m serious she says, “fine. We have a deal. I better see you there.” She then storms out of the sword arena like a fucking brat. But even when she leaves, I wait a little while.

               As I wait I form an apology in my head and then I sigh before I start apologizing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for you to see that.” I am completely unsure of what he is going to say, which makes me nervous. I rub the back of my neck, hoping to find comfort in this nervous tic. I wait for him to yell or scream. Maybe even run away again, despite what he told me. But instead he does the last thing I expect, he laughs. He laughs and it just sounds amazing. There’s literally no comparison to how amazing it sounds. People say, “oh, his laugh was music to my ears.” No bitch, it’s better than that. It is fucking ambrosia to my ears. It heals me in ways that ambrosia can’t. It’s slowly healing my broken heart.

               “Percy!” I hear Nico say and it snaps me back to reality. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You just put Annabeth in her fucking place!” He laughs some more before continuing. “Acting like she knows everything. Oh my fucking gods! I wouldn’t have missed that shit for a million dollars!” I crack a smile and enjoy the sound of his laugh. Then out of nowhere he stops laughing and frowns. “You should probably head over to the campfire.” My smile drops as he says that. My hopes are crushed as I try to find a way out of going. When an idea pops in my head, I go for it. It’s crazy, but I’ll try anyways.

               “You could come with me.” I say as I look at him hopefully. But to my disappointment, he shakes his head. “Campfires just aren’t my style. I’m sorry.” He says sincerely. “Plus I don’t like large crowds of people. Most of the time, they don’t like me either.” I nod understanding what he means.  
Alright, see you later Nico.”

               “See you later Percy. Maybe we can hang out another time.” With that he disappears into a shadow. Meaning that I am left alone those last few words repeating in my head, and I smile a huge ass cheesy grin. Then I remember that I have to got to the sing along and deal with some _bull_ shit. But even that can’t ruin my mood. Because all I can think about is Nico. How he smells similar to a cold winter night with wilting rose petals blowing by on the wind.  How his laugh heals me and makes me feel better than ambrosia.

               To be honest, if Nico was a drug. I would be more than addicted to him, I would be depending on him to live. I still wish Annabeth would end it though because she would know how to end it better. It would still hurt, just not as much. Then I would try to tell Nico about my feelings for him.

_Oh, Nico._ I think, _you are so sweet, yet you make everyone think you are only tough and distant. I need him, but he doesn’t know. Not yet, but someday he will._ These thought make me smile as I walk to the campfire.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Jason P.O.V.**

                I sigh, already tired of looking at the campfire.  I feel Piper rest her head on my shoulder.  I look over at her smiling. My smile drops when I look at her and realize her smile is fake. Knowing that she is faking a smile, hurts me. But despite that, I throw on a fake smile too because she’s always concerned about appearances now. I look around to clear my mind, as I look for my friends in the crowd.

                The first person I see is Leo, who is currently flirting with Calypso making her blush and laugh. I’m really happy that he’s having a good time; I mean it’s better than the alternative. Seriously he made us all think he was dead, even Nico. So when he hopped off Festus with Calypso, we were all extremely happy. Though Piper, well she punched him in the arm before hugging him while she cried. Leo notices that I am looking in his direction, so he gives me a wink. Before I could respond or even figure out _why_ he had winked, he got up and disappeared behind the bleachers with Calypso. I smile and shake my head as I realize he meant he is going to get laid.  

                I look around for the only other people I know really well, Percy and Annabeth. When I find them, I realize that Annabeth is doing the same thing Piper is.  _Meaning we are in the same_ fucking _boat,_  I think before almost laughing as I realize I accidentally made a joke. I am about to look back at the campfire again when I notice when I notice something off about them.  I scan over them to try to figure out what it is. I look at Annabeth and only see the usual bullshit.  But when I look at Percy, there _is_ something different. It’s his facial expression. His facial expression is the one unconsciously make, when you look or think about someone you love. The thing is, he’s not looking at anyone. He’s just looking at the amphitheater, the part of it where all the shadows seem to gather. I am curious why he is doing that, but I should probably mind my own business. _Whatever it is it’s_ his _business,_ I think. But despite what I think I should do, my brain starts putting the pieces together. _Wait,_ I think, _could it be Nico?_  My eyes widen and my thoughts start to race. But before I could make any sense of my racing thoughts, I shake my head and clear my mind. _I need to think of_ my _self and_ my _problems,_ I think trying to avoid getting involved in problems that don’t include me.

                So focusing on my problems, I look back at Piper who is still faking that “ _perfect_ ” smile.  I almost laugh at the irony, because her father might be an actor but she clearly the hell isn’t. As much as it pisses me off, it still hurts. The last time she smiled, _truly_ smiled, around me was when we won the war. But ever since then, Piper only smile around Annabeth. It makes me suspicious that she only smile around Annabeth. But when I think about their personalities, it just doesn’t make sense.  Piper respects love and Annabeth is a dedicated person. It doesn’t seem like they would cheat, it’s not like they hang out with anyone who isn’t their sibling or one of the seven. Even when they do, it’s never a guy. That would start some sort of rumor. A rumor that would spread like wildfire, thanks to the Aphrodite Cabin.

                I am so caught up in all of my thoughts that I don’t realize that the campfire is over. “Jason! Hello, earth to Jason. Come on.” Piper says, snapping me back into reality. I get up and Piper grabs my hand and starts to pull me along. She starts heading towards the beach and I sigh because Piper had forgot to mention that “we” made plans again.  The more _we_ make plans, the more _I_ get suspicious. _Tonight is the night,_ I think, _tonight is the night I will find out what they are doing._ I have my theories of what is going on and I know there is something up. Tonight I am going to find out what it is.

                As we walk Piper gets closer to me, trying so hard to look like the golden couple we used to be. The golden couple that seemed to never have any problems. My thoughts keep spiraling like that until we reach the beach. When we get there, Percy and Annabeth are already there and look like they just had a fight. Annabeth’s eye’s are rimmed red, while she is covering her mouth with her hand. While Percy is glaring at the sea, which is eerily calm similar to the calm before a storm.

                Piper sees this and let’s go of my hand and runs to Annabeth as fast as she can. Annabeth gives her a small nod and they rush into the woods where they usually disappear.

                I walk towards Percy who says, “I’m fucking sick of this bullshit.”  This takes me by surprise because Percy seems different; he seems a little more focused. I nod as I wonder what happened. “I think they are up to something,” I confess cautiously. “Without a doubt, and I’m done with it. I don’t give two fucks anymore.” Again, I am shocked by how blunt Percy is being.

                “What’s up?” I ask. “You seem different.” Percy laughs. “Oh, well I was talking with Nico when Annabeth stormed in with the usual ‘we’ made plans. So I snapped at her, you should have seen the look on her face.” I laugh and say, “probably because you have never done that before.” Percy nods and laughs before a huge smile appears on his face. “You should have been there. Nico busted out laughing the moment she was gone.” “Wait, _what?_ ” I ask, not sure I had heard that correctly. “Yep,” he nods his smile somehow seems to get bigger. “He laughed, he really laughed. “

                Suddenly , I’m curious about what they had been talking about. “So,” I start my question cautiously. “What were you guys talking about anyway?” The smile on Percy’s face disappears, turning into a frown. He looks at me, his green eyes guarded. “I can trust you right?” I nod, “of course you can, we are both romans here.” I give him a small smile as I here Percy laugh before he answers my question. “We were talking about Cupid, Annabeth, and Tartarus.” I look at him in shock before he might not be talking about what I think he is. “What about Cupid?”

                “He was what happened on Half-Blood Hill.” I look at him curiously, “what happened?” Percy blushes and suddenly my heart skips a beat. I suddenly realize that Percy is actually a really good looking guy. It probably doesn’t help that the moon’s light is reflecting off the ocean right behind him.

                “Cupid taunted me,” he answers. With those words I am snapped back into reality with a harsh slap. I start to get angry. I start to feel the need to protect Percy and Nico, because Aphrodite and Cupid just can’t seem to leave them alone. Hell, they won’t leave me alone either. “Cupid messed with my emotions. H-he made everything I fear and doubt worse.” Percy explains, his voice slightly shaking. “Sounds like Cupid,” I say through clenched teeth.

                “That’s right, you were there the day Cupid shot Nico with one of his arrows.” I nod still angry at Cupid for that. “What happened when he got shot?” My anger disappeared as I wondered where this conversation was going. I am about to answer his question when I realize that if I’m not careful, I’ll accidently tell Percy Nico’s secret. I tilt my head as I form a way to explain what happens, without giving him to many details. “Well,” I start to explain carefully. “I could see some off his memories; I could also feel the emotions that went with them.” “Oh,” he says turning his head to look at the sea. “Why did you want to know anyways?” “Cupid threatened to shoot me, but Nico almost let himself get shot for me.”

                “Really?” I ask shocked knowing that if that had happened, Percy would know about Nico’s crush on him. “So is Nico staying at camp>” Percy nods again. “How did you manage that?” “I told him about my experience in Tartarus, and why I don’t think Annabeth and I are no longer the ‘it’ couple.” “The Misery thing?” I ask forgetting that I’m not supposed to know about that. Only remembering that I’m not supposed to when his eyes widen I shock as he turns to face me. “H-how do you know about that.” He looks panicked, almost scared that I know. So to help him calm down, I calmly explain why I know about the Misery thing.

                “Well Annabeth told Piper about it right after she had the nightmare. Then Piper told me. But I understand, you had to do that to get out alive. I don’t think the girls understand that.” When I finish explaining I notice something, a kind of anger I have never seen in his eyes before. The sea is responding to this anger as tall, violent waves crash down on the shore. The waves are crashing down a few yards away, but I feel water hit my skin. I look at Percy concerned about just how angry he is. “Thank you for understanding Jason, but I think I should be going now. If Annabeth asks, I’m in my cabin even though I’ll actually be at the sword arena. If you want to you can join me, if you don’t want to. That’s all cool. I’ll see you later.” He starts to walk away, but I stop him by impulsively grabbing his wrist. He looks back at me and I see the anger and sadness he feels in his green eyes. I can see the war between these two emotions, both fighting for control.

                “What?” Percy asks quietly. “If you ever need someone to talk to, remember I’m here for you. So is Nico. Okay?” He nods, and surprisingly gives me a small smile. I flash him the same kind of smile in return. And let of of his wrist. My heart beating unusually fast, as he walks away.

                I don’t give it much thought as I turn to head into the woods. Preparing myself for the worst, while still hoping that I don’t find the worst. I reach the edge of the woods and think, _his is my last chance to turn back._ So I take a deep breath and step forward into the woods. I release the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. I continue walking into the woods listening for any noises that will lead me to where they are.

                A few yards in, I hear a loud gasp of pain that I recognize as Piper’s. I know that there are monsters that roam free in the woods. So, without thinking, I quietly rush to towards the sound. But when I get there, I don’t see them being attacked by a monster. I saw my worst theory come to life. What I mean by that is I see Piper pinned down against a tree by Annabeth. Annabeth’s arm is what is pinning Piper’s hands above her head. Annabeth’s other hand is under Piper’s shirt, resting on _my_ girlfriend’s waist. I can feel both my despair and anger build up inside of me. But I snap out of my continuously building emotions when Piper moans. Moaning because _Annabeth_ is kissing her neck.

                Reality slaps me with the cold, harsh truth and I feel something break inside of me. I walk a few steps towards them. Then I begin to speak in a furious tone. “ _Well,_ well, well.” They jump away from each other finally noticing me. “I thought that you guys were up to something, but this, this is just..” I struggle to find the word, but unable to find it, I just continue my rant. “I can’t believe you! What about me! What about Percy! In fact, I’m going to tell him right now!”

                I turn to walk away and Annabeth grabs my wrist. Which wasn’t a smart idea because a spark of electricity sends her flying into Piper. I glare at Annabeth as she coughs. “Please…” She wheezes. “Don’t tell Percy.” _Annabeth is begging,_ I think, _I thought we had stopped the apocalypse._ “And why shouldn’t  I tell him?” “Because, I need to be the one to tell him.” She tells me, looking depressed and quite honestly I don’t care how sad she is. I can’t care because I know whatever she’s feeling now, will be ten times easier to deal with the mess that Percy will have to. “Fine. You’ve got tell tomorrow at sunset. Or else I’ll tell him myself.” She nods, showing that she understands. “Where is Percy right now?”

                I look at her in disbelief. “In his cabin.” I lie because I don’t care what she might need or think. Percy needs a break right now and so do I, so fuck her needs. She caused this problem, now I will have to help clean it up tomorrow while she’s off happy with Piper.  While I help Percy piece himself back together, and help clean whatever aftermath his emotions leave behind.

                I only have one question now. “How long has this been going on?” Annabeth just looks down, but Piper answers stuttering the whole time. “A-a l-little more th-than a we-week.” My anger suddenly takes over for a moment and I accidently send a bolt of lightning through the nearest tree. Piper jumps and Annabeth quickly hops to her feet and stand in front of Piper. That protective action hurts me, because if she thinks I would ever hurt Piper like that she’s wrong. I glare at Annabeth my anger turning into rage. The wind starts to pick up mirroring my emotions. “If you think I would ever stoop that low. You are dead wrong.” I take a deep breath and the wind slows a little bit. “Piper, we are done. Please just leave me alone. It’s not like you enjoy spending time with me anyways. So, I guess I’ll see you around.” With that said and done, I fly up through the trees. I fly towards Cabin 13 needing someone to talk to, knowing that I can’t talk to Percy. Hell, I won’t be able to look him in the eyes until he knows.

                When I reach Nico’s cabin, I land quietly by the door. I run a hand through my hair, trying to control my emotions as I knock on his door. I wait impatiently before Nico slightly opens. He opens the door in such a way only his shoulder and face are visible. But even with so little showing, I am still shocked by what I see. My hearts starts racing and becomes unusually loud. It is a feeling I am starting to recognize. I also realize that only Percy and Nico make me feel this way. Anyways, what I see is Nico’ s pale, bare shoulder with a small white towel resting on it. His shoulder isn’t scrawny like it usually appears to be. It is actually perfectly toned. His hair is weighed down with sweat, but only near the roots. Beads of sweat tracing his face as they roll down.

                He frowns and I realize I must be staring at him while looking upset. “What’s wrong?” He asks. “Annabeth and Piper.” Nico sighs and then opens the door all the way. “You should probably come in.” I walk in and close the door behind me. I notice that Nico’s whole body looks perfectly toned. The only reason I am able to notice this is because he is wearing something other than the usual black skinny jeans and t-shirt. Right now he’s wearing a pair of black basketball shorts.

                My heart starts to race and I shake my head, trying to shake off this feeling. “Hey, Jason.” He says carefully. “I know you’re upset, but you seem to be spacing out a lot.” I look around and realize I’m still standing in front of the door. While Nico is now leaning against a wall, drying his hair with a towel. “Yeah, sorry about that.” I say still kind of out of it. “No worries, just sit down and tell me what’s up.” He says before throwing the towel on his desk. Nico crosses his arms tightly, I know Nico well enough to know what that means. It means he is pissed off, but want to know the facts before he raises the dead to kill someone.

                He told me to sit down, but my nerves won’t let me because I am too angry and want to hit something. “Well long story short, I thought Piper and Annabeth were cheating. Today I found out I was right, Only thing is, I didn’t expect that they were cheating on me and Percy with each other. I told Annabeth she had until sunset tomorrow to tell Percy. Then I told Piper that we are done, and leave me alone for a while. So… That’s what happened.”

                Nico looks angry, like _murder someone_ angry. I look at the ground half expecting a skeleton hand to pop out, instead he asks a question. “How long?” “Piper said for a little more than a week.” I tell him as I notice the dark circles under his eyes. These dark circles make his already dark eyes darker and make Nico look exhausted.

                “That’s bullshit!” He snaps, forcing my thoughts back into focus. He is so angry that the shadows start to move and gather around him. Scared he might shadow travel away, I rush over to him and grab his wrist. Nico’s eyes widen and he starts to blush. “ W-what are you d-doing?” He asks nervously. “You looked like you were going to shadow travel.” I explain. “So I had to stop you, I mean, you promised Percy you would.  Nico’s face becomes a darker shade of pink. “D-did Percy tell you that?”  He asks cautiously, all I can do is smile as I nod enjoying how flushed his cheeks look.  I don’t want to ruin the look on his face, but he needs to know the rest so I continue telling him the rest. “I also know a little about the Cupid incident that happened earlier. His doubts about Annabeth. I also know about the Misery thing because Piper told me after Annabeth told her.“ Nico frowns, and just like I thought, the blush on his face disappears. “What do you think?” He asks. “Did he do the right thing?” I nod, “he didn’t really have any other choice in my opinion.”

                “that what I think too.” Nico tells me honestly and then smiles. His smile is gorgeous; actually, I realize that Nico is overall unreasonably attractive. His pale skin helps outline his muscles. At some point in our conversation, is basketball short had slipped down a little showing off his lightly outline his hip bones. I also realize that Nico is a really great guy despite the whole son of Hades thing.

                Without thinking I start to lean towards Nico, who blushes and presses himself against the wall. “J-j-jason wh-what are-“ I cut him off by gently pressing my lips against his as I close my eyes. I pull my face back and open my eyes. What I see is Nico staring at me in shock while his face is turning a deep shade of red. Realizing what I had just done, I step back. “S-sorry,” I say embarrassed and about to break down. “I -I sh-shouldn’t have- “ This time I’m the one cut off as Nico grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me into a passionate kiss. He pulls me forward as we kiss so that he ends up being pressed against the wall.

                I pull away, out of breath. “Are you sure this is okay?” He nods before his hands travel to the back of my neck and up into my hair. Nico pulls me down into another kiss. I put my hands on his waist and lick his bottom lip. He gets my message and opens his mouth a little. I slip my tongue in his mouth. I moan and so does he, as I explore his mouth with my tongue. I slid my tongue against his earning me the pleasant sound of a desperate moan.

                We probably have kept going on like that, but Nico yawns in the middle of a kiss. I laugh, “okay. We should probably stop now. I’ll head over to my cabin and go to sleep. Goodnight Nico.” I smile as I turn to leave. But, before I can even take one step, he grabs my hand. “You could, you know, stay here.” He tells me as his face turns a light shade of pink. “Are you sure?” He nods “To tell you the truth I have a hard time sleeping. Nightmares end up waking me up every time I close my eyes. I’ve only had like six hours of sleep in the last two days.”

                I look at him in shock.” How are you even still standing.” Nico shrugs and looks at the ground nervously. “Sure Nico,” I answer. “I’ll stay. Just promise you have a plan to get me to my cabin without raising any eyebrows.” Nico smirks. “I promise, I’ll find away to keep out relationship a secret.” I smirk back as I lean into his ear and whisper in a soft voice. “Are you trying to say that I’m your boyfriend now?” I back up so that I can see his reaction. I laugh seeing that, as much as he’s blushing, he’s also smiling. “I guess that’s a yes.” I say as I pull him into a hug. “So,” I say. “Are we going to go to sleep or what?” Nico nods as I let him go. I walk over to the bed as Nico slips on a black shirt. I climb onto the bed and under the covers, which are surprisingly soft.

                Nico climbs onto the bed, scooting toward me with his back facing me. I wrap my arm around him and pull him closer. “By the way,” I tell him. “I know you still love Percy.” Nico tenses up in my arms. “But I’m okay with that, honestly he is a great guy who is _seriously_ attractive.” Nico laughs and I smile hugely at the sound of it because it sounds so beautiful and familiar. Yet, this is the first time I’ve heard him laugh. Nico relaxes and he scoots even closer to me. “Oh really?” Nico asks sarcastically. “Yes really,” I answer honestly. Suddenly out conversation takes a dark turn. “Do you think he’ll be alright tomorrow?” “I don’t know,” I tell him. “But whatever happens, we’ll be there for him. Together.” “Of course-“ he yawns, “we will.”

                “Now come on, let’s go to sleep. Or else we’ll be dead on out feet when we need to be there for him.” “O-okay.” He says sleepily. I lay there for a few minutes before Nico’s breathing gets deeper. I close my eyes ready to drift off to sleep. I don’t remember how long it took me to fall asleep, but when I wake up to Nico poking my side telling me to wake the fuck up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter goes out to Shadowgirlwillruletheworld! Thanks for the support! :)

**Nico’s P.O.V.**

I wake up from the best night of sleep I’ve had in years and smile when I feel Jason’s forehead on my shoulder. But my smile quickly disappears when I realize what time it is. _Shit,_ I think as I panic. _Shit! Shit! Shit! Fucking hell! Fucking fuck me!_ I continue to panic as I sleepily stumble along as through on some new clothes.

                “Jason,” I say, poking his side. “Wake up! Seriously dude, wake the _fuck_ up!” He sleepily opens his eyes and to make sure he stays that way I make sure he understands what is going on. “You have like, two minutes to get ready for breakfast.” Suddenly, he doesn’t look tired as he rushed toward the door before abruptly stopping in his tracks. “I’m not in my cabin.” “No,” I answer. “No you’re not dipshit now get your ass over here. We are going to shadow travel to your cabin, so don’t let go of my hand no matter what.” I grab his hand and pull the shadows towards us. Holding his hand tightly, we fall through the shadows. It is a really quick trip, but I just woke up so when we step into his cabin I fall against him.

                “Wow! Hey are you alright?” I nod, slightly smiling because that’s the first time in years since someone has asked me that. I stand up, still smiling. Jason walks over to his dresser and grabs some clothes. “Hey, what’s with that big grin of yours?” He asks as he slips off his shirt. I look down at the ground quickly, feeling my face heat up as I answer. “It’s just that no one has asked me that in a long time.” He stops getting dressed and slowly turns around. “Wait.. No one has asked you if you were _alright_ in a long time?” I nod, still looking at the ground. “Well, that’s going to change with me around.” I nod again, feeling my face my face heat up even more. I am so embarrassed that I don’t notice what Jason is doing until I feel his lips pressed softly against my forehead.

                “Jason.” I say my voice sounding higher than usual. “Shouldn’t you be getting dressed?” He laughs and gently lifts my face so that I am looking him in the eyes. “Yes, I should be. But right now I feel like I should be saying something very important. So that you know that I’m falling in love with you. That I’m _already_ in love with you. That I’m going to help you through anything happens today and anything else that happens in _our_ future.” I look at Jason feeling my love for him growing like a wildfire. “I feel the same way Jason. I – I think I’m in love with you.” Jason gives me a smile before saying, “I know.” I push Jason away from me and roll my eyes. “What? What did I do?” He whines sadly, but still unable to wipe that smile of his damn face.

                “Just hurry up and finish changing. I’m going to the sword arena, so I’ll be late to breakfast by 10 to 15 minutes. “K see you th-“ The sound of the conch being blown cuts him off. Jason laughs, “I had more than two minutes. I’ll give you that.” I laugh, and as I laugh I see Jason watch me with loving way. A huge grin on his handsome face.  “What?” I ask him wondering why he was looking at me like that. “You need to laugh more Nico, you look cute when you laugh.” I look down trying to hide my face. “I’ll see you later.” “Later babe.” I roll my eyes once again, gathering the shadows around me. The whole time staying silent, knowing that if I respond in any sort of way I will be trapped in a never ending conversation. So I step forward and free fall through the shadows.

                I land in the sword arena kneeling on one knee, sworn in hand. I am about to stand up when I hear someone shout, “hey Nico!” I cringe because I recognize the voice. The voice that I will know no matter when or where I hear it. It’s Percy I know it is, and I know that I can’t face him. I know that I won’t be able to look him in the eyes, not yet. I start to gather the shadows around me and I am seconds away from dropping back into the shadows when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

                I release the shadows and turn around. I expect to see the usual smile on Percy’s face, but instead what I see is completely different. He looks worried, slightly scared, and his eyes are welling up with tears. “Percy, what’s wrong?” I ask carefully because I’m scared he might break if I’m not careful. “Oh, uh, nothing.” He say before wiping his eyes. “I’m just a little tired. Oh! And guess what!” I look at him, his body language showing that he is both extremely happy and extremely nervous. “What?” “Well, so what happened is that Annabeth just asked me to talk to her later. To me, she actually looked calm and happy. You know, like how she used to be around me.” My heart sinks and I lower my head, trying to hide the guilt that must be clearly written on my face. I want to tell him the truth, but I can’t. Annabeth has to be the one that tells him, it’s the only way he’ll accept the truth.

                “What do you think Nico?” I realize that Percy is still talking, not only talking but that he had just asked me a question. I look up, knowing that I probably look like I am drowning in sadness. “Sorry I got lost in thought, what do I think about what?” “I asked if you think that maybe, Annabeth and I just might be able to fix things.” “Uh... I don’t know.” I say, biting my bottom lip to keep me from telling him everything.  “Just… Just be careful around her today Percy.” “Nico, do you know something that I don’t?” I shake my head. _I’m_ so _sorry Percy,_ I think, _you don’t deserve this. But… But I just can’t deal with this right now. “_ See you later Percy.” “Wait-“ I don’t hear what he says next because I drop into the shadow faster than I ever have before. In only a blink of an eye, I get thrown out of the shadows, slamming down on the bench of Jason’s table.

                “Holy crap!” Jason shouts, staring at me with his eyes wide in shock. I feel a tear run down my face as I look up towards Jason. “Hey, are you okay?” I just look at him, wondering what I should say. “Nico, what is it? Whatever it is, you know you can tell me.” I realize what I should tell him after he says this; I should tell him the truth. “I –I ran into Percy at the sword arena.” I explain trying to focus on keeping my voice steady instead of what just happened. “And he told me that Annabeth wants to talk to him later. Jason looks down knowing as well as I do what that means. “The worst part was that he looked sort of happy. He started saying how he might be able to fix his relationship with her.”  Jason shakes his head, his anger written clearly on his face.  Despite how easily I can see his emotions, he doesn’t say a word, allowing me to finish explaining what happened.  “I just couldn’t keep talking to him because I know the truth, so I ran. I just can’t stand knowing that later today. His heart is going to shatter. Hopefully, it’s over quickly because his heart has been falling apart piece by piece for _way_ too long. It’s not fair, but I hope he can get past it quickly just so that he can stop being in pain.” “I know it’s no fair Nico, but sadly, that’s probably the best thing that could happen in this situation. “

                A silence falls around us until a dryad puts a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me. I only get a few bites before I hear Percy’s voice, making me choke on my food. “Jason! Nico!” Jason stares at Percy as he sits down on the bench next to me. “Hey Percy, what’s up?” Jason asks, acting like nothing is wrong. “Not much other than a date with Annabeth after lunch.” I look down at my plate to avoid looking at Percy as I snack on some bacon. “Well good luck with your dare, bt Nico and I should go make our sacrifices to the gods. So we’ll see you later.”

                Jason hops up from the bench and grabs both of out plates from the table. I get up and follow him to the fire where he throws both of our plates in. I risk a quick glance at Percy who looks confused, but still happy as he gets up and practically _frolics_ to his table. I look back towards Jason and notice that his muscles are tense, each movement radiating an unhidden anger. “Are you okay?’ I ask Jason, he quickly responds by shaking his head. “No because… because it’s not right what Annabeth and Piper did. Especially Annabeth, she knows what’s going to happen to Percy. Annabeth is an awful person! She’s a-“ “Bitch, I know.” I sigh and look at Jason. “Now that you truly understand how I have felt for the past few years, let’s go to the sword arena. I know you’ll feel better after you fight someone.” He nods, “sounds like a plan.”

                We walk towards the sword arena in silence, trapped in our concern for Percy. Suddenly I realize something, something that worries me.  Unable to ignore it, I impulsively blurt out my thoughts . “So you think that Percy will understand our relationship?” Jason stops walking, and somehow his muscles tense up even more. Immediately I begin to panic, my thought spiraling into the depths of Tartarus. _This is_ my _fault,_ I think as I feel my facial expression go blank. I look at Jason, already feeling my emotions fading into numbness s he turns around.  I look at the person I am only just starting to love with dead eyes. But he doesn’t’ look mad or upset like I thought, like I feared. Jason just looks sad and worried.  His sadness only gets easier to see as he notices the dead look in my eyes.

                “Nico, I need you to listen to me. Actually listen. Okay?” II nod, lying and unable to speak because I’m barely able to hold up the shield I’m hiding behind. “Nico _please_ listen to me and _please_ don’t ever feel the need to lie to me.” Jason begs, his voice shaking violently.  “You know.. I can tell when you’re hiding behind a mask. I know because I often hide behind a mask too.” I look at Jason in shock as the shield I was hiding behind crumbles. “Look Nico, look at my face and tell me who you see.” “Jason Grace.” “Yes, but Jason Grace _who_? Jason Grace the brave and fearless praetor. Or Jason Grace, the boy _behind_ the mask.  The boy that has been ripped apart and left to rebuild with what was left more times than he can count.” Jason takes a step towards me. “The boy who is _in_ love and still _falling_ in love with you.”

                I tears run down my face as I say, “the boy who is falling in love.” “Yes I am. Now I’m going to tell you the truth. I don’t know. I don’t know how he will react when Annabeth tells him what she did. I don’t know if he will understand our relationship. What I do know is that we have to do this one step at a time. The first step is for him to know what Annabeth did. So let’s go practice with sharp deadly sticks like idiots stick until Percy needs us.” A weak laugh escapes my lips despite the fact I am still silently crying. “Come on let’s go.” Jason says before turning and walking towards the sword arena.

                When we get to the sword arena we slash, stab, and dodge. We skip lunch, not wanting to run into Percy again. So we continue an almost endless cycle of slashing, stabbing, and dodging. That is, until the wind unexpectedly picks up. Then it suddenly begins to rain, but when I look up there’s not a single cloud in the sky. I look at Jason who gives me a nod before we run outside. We get outside and look around looking for the source of the wind and rain. When we see it, I can only describe it as terrifying. The source of this chaotic weather is a hurricane like storm near the lake. This storm looks violently and somehow indescribably sad. I put my hand on Jason’s shoulder, “the fastest way over there is to shadow travel.” Jason gives me a quick nod and grabs my hand. I hold his hand tightly as I gather the shadows. When there are enough shadows, I step forward pulling Jason into shadows with me. The storm must have interfered with my abilities because we appear b the storm five feet above the ground. Instead of falling and breaking a bone, Jason grabs my waist and lowers us down safely.

                We land on the ground and immediately hear Piper and Annabeth yelling to my left. I look to see what is going on, but I end up having more questions than answers. Annabeth is clinging onto the dock while Piper is trying to pull her up. But it seems like something much stronger is pulling her down, Jason runs over to see what is going on. I follow curious about what is happening, but otherwise I could care less if she drowns. Sadly, whatever it was, let go as soon as we got there. Annabeth climbs onto to dock faster that I could think _fuck, she’s still alive._ “What happened?” Jason asks clearly only curious. “I was just… _Talking_ to Percy. Then Percy freaks out and the naiads try to drown me!”

                I start to roll my eyes but an elegant voice speaks calmly. “That’s not quite true is it young demigod.” I look around trying to figure out who is speaking. As I’m looking around, Jason taps my shoulder and points to the lake. I can only stare in shock as a woman rises from the water. The only reason I am shocked is because she is stunningly beautiful. When I say that, it seriously means something. It means something because women aren’t really visually appealing to me, but this naiad is extremely beautiful. Her skin a lovely light blue. The way her hair moves like she is still underwater is hypnotizing. Her bright green eyes practically glowing as she glares at Annabeth.

                She walks towards me before continuing to speak. “What actually happened was the cruel awakening of a hopeful heart.” I look down sadly. “You see,” the naiad explains. “He was still hopeful that things would work out, as he explained this to Annabeth her brow furrowed. She quickly stopped his cheerful chatter and quickly told him of her dastardly affair. He tried to tell her something, but before he could utter a single word she told him that their relationship had ended a long time ago.  That anything he said would be similar to hoping a dead animal was just sleeping. With those words crushing his spirit, he hopped out of the boat. Percy’s last act of kindness towards this woman was running across the top of the water to the land across the way. So that when his emotions took control, she would be safe from harm.” She looks sadly towards the storm.”In the middle of that storm in where he is crying out the torments of his broken heart.”

                The naiad turns towards Annabeth. “In fact we were not trying to drown you, but save you to respect Percy’s wishes. The only reason it might have felt that way, is because you lost your balance causing you to fall into the once calm water. After that, you were at the mercy of the thrashing tides that reflect the emotions the one you once claimed to love. Honestly without our help, you would have died.” The naiad turns back towards us. “Now you two, you must go to Percy. To get through the storm, calmly approach the wind and rain. Then place your intertwined hands within the storm. His subconscious will recognize you when you do that. When you see an opening appear in the storm, walk through. Walk through and help him. He may be a hero, but even heroes need to be saved sometimes.” With that she disappears back into the water.

                “You heard what the naiad said, we should go. When a naiad speaks, you listen. _Especially_ when it’s about the son of the sea god.”  I nod and I grab Jason’s hand as we run towards the storm.  We do as the naiad directed and place out intertwined hands into the storm. A hole appears in the storm, allowing us to reach the center of the storm where we see Percy on his knees. He is screaming and crying while his hand keep a tight grip on his hair.

                I let go of Jason’s hand and rush over to Percy, kneeling in front of him. I look at Jason  nervously, he gives me a small nod of encouragement. I look back towards Percy who still hasn’t notices us because his eyes are shut as he cries. I put my hand on Percy’s shoulder and he opens his eyes. My heart breaks looking into his eyes because his usually bright green eyes are dim. His eyes are sad and broken. “N-n-nico wh-what are you… What are you doing here?” His voice shaking and cracking while tears run down his face, and it hurts to see him like this. But instead of showing him the pain I feel, I do something I know he’s been doing for years. Something he does for everybody else. It’s his turn to be saved. “I’m here to help you.” I answer truthfully and I give him a small smile. “But, but why?” “Because, I care about you Percy. I care about you and hate to see you in pain. So let me help you.” Percy hesitates before answering by nodding.

                “So first things first, what happened?” I brace myself for whatever I might heat next. Whatever truthful, sad story that is about to be told. Percy takes a deep breath calming himself down before he begins explaining. “I went to the lake for my date with Annabeth. She was smiling and acting like everything was fine. But when we got to the middle of the lake, I – I started blurting out my thoughts. Annabeth shut me up as fast as she could and told me what had happened. I wasn’t upset really, even I thought that moving on was a good idea at this point if we thought we couldn’t work it out. B-but then she told me,” a sob escapes from Percy. “She… She told me that our relationship had already ended a long time ago. Th-that’s what got to me, because I don’t… No, because I didn’t, feel the same way. Not even close. F-for…” Percy stops abruptly and breaks down crying, the storm matches his emotion by getting worse.  “F-for th-th-the l-longest time, a-all I did w-was l-love her.” Percy sobs. “P-parts o-of my life j-just g-gone and to be t-told th-that I w-wasted all of th-that time.” He breaks down sobbing before he shouts, “it’s not fair!” Percy continues crying and the storm violently thrashes around us. When Percy calm down a little, so does the storm.

                I know the next thing I tell him won’t be comforting, but I have to say it anyways. “It’s _not_ fair Percy, You’re right. Life really isn’t ever fair.” Percy looks at me his eyes drowning in guilt as a tear runs down his face. “You know, I still think it’s my fault. I’ve never stopped blaming myself.” I can only stare at him wide eyed as he continues. “I _could_ have done something! I _should_ have done something! But… But I was a coward, so it’s my fault. It’s _my_ fault she died, and it’ _my_ fault for everything that happened to you after that.” “Percy,” I say, my voice shaking. “It… It’s not your fault. I –I never blamed you. I was just a kid, I was just lashing out.” “But I should have been there!” He shouts angrily, angrily at himself. “Once she died, it was on _me_! You were _my_ responsibility! I should ha-“ “Percy!” I yell. “Shut up! You were only a kid back then too! So suck it up and realize you can’t change the past. Move on, look at whou we are now. Remember what I promised you.” I finish trying to get it through his thick skull that it’s not his fault. Bianca dies, it’s still sad and still hurts. But I never really blamed him, truthfully I will _never_ blame him.

                Percy looks at me eyes wide in shock before returning to the sad broken look his eyes had been drowning in before. But this time, the sadness is just a little different and I can’t figure out what it is that is making it different.  The storm around us is starting to calm down as Percy speaks. “You’re right. You are absolutely tight. And you promised me, you promised me you would stay.” He says looking at me, his sad eyes starting to shine with hope. “So I am just going to ask one more thing, will you sit on the hill near the beach with me tonight? Just watch the sunset and talk about… About stuff?” I sneak a glance at Jason who gives me a subtle nod. “Sure Percy. I have some… Stuff to talk about too. So about what time do you want to meet up?”

                The wind completely stops and he gives me one of his goofy smiles. “Uh… I guess that depends on what time it is.” Percy laughs and I get up. I put my hand out and he takes it so that I can help him up. “Well you better go ask. I’ll wait here while you go figure that out.” “Okay, I’ll be right back.” With that he runs over to the nearest camper to find out what time it is. “So you have a date with Percy, on a scale of one to ten how happy are you?” Jason asks a smirk on his face. “Nine,” I say casually. “Why only nine>” Jason asks, his voice heavily laced in curiosity. “Because you stole my ten.” “Oh,” he says. “Oh, okay. I, uh, well now I don’t know what to say. That was both the sweetest thing you’ve ever said _and_ the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said.” “I mean it,” I tell him. “ Now shut up, Percy is on his way back.

                Percy has a nervous smile on his face as he walk up to us. “Apparently, the middle of my storm was similar to mythical areas. Time passed differently in there, so there is only like a half a hour or so until sunset. So you can go get ready whil I set up the hill.” “Sounds good,” I say. I’m about to turn around when Percy grabs my wrist. “I’ll pick you up from your cabin if you want.” He says blushing, the blush brings out Percy’s green eyes. “I would love if you come get me, thanks for offering.” Percy blushes even more before rushing off towards the hill.

                “Okay! Let’s go get you ready for your date.” Jason says with a smirk as he grabs my hand. I shadow travel us to my bedroom and then I sit down on my bed planning to relax until the date. But sadly, Jason has other plans in store because I see him searching through my dresser. “Hey Nico,” he says as he turns around. “Which shirt do you want to wear?” I almost laugh at the shirts he is holding up because they are both too small. “Neither, they don’t fit. “Oh _really_?” “Yes _really_.” “Then you shouldn’t mind getting off your lazy, _pale_ ass and proving it.” I sigh and roll my eyes as I get up from my bed. Jason hands me a black v neck t-shirt. I slip off the shirt I’m wearing and throw it into a random corner before slipping the v neck on. When I pull the shirt down so that it fits right, Jason smirks. “I like how it looks on you.” I laugh and look at him skeptically. “While I’ll admit it is not as tight as I thought, I don’t think it will look good like this.” I explain trying to talk him out of dressing me up.

                Unfortunately, I end up encouraging him. “I knew you would like it. Now, let me find you a full outfit to go with that shirt. He ruffles through my clothes and somehow manages to find a white jacket in my clothes. _A white jacket,_ I think, _where in_ the hell _did I get a white jacket!_ It doesn’t matter because Jason throws the jacket on me. Then he folds the sleeves of the jacket so that they end just above my elbows. He looks around before grabbing two black rubber bracelets from on top of my dresser. You know, the nerdy ones you get from Hot Topic. He slides my team Castiel on my right wrist and team Dean on my left wrist. I almost laugh because I ship Destiel, but I don’t laugh because Jason looks intensely serious as he searches through my drawers.

                Finally, he finds whatever he was looking for and turns around. When he shows me what it is I can only stare, stunned by its existence. It’s a camp necklace, but I’ve never had one. I’ve never had one, but in front me is a camp necklace with three beads on it. A maze bead, the empire state building bead, and this year’s bead. This year’s bead is half orange half purple with CHB carved on the orange side and SPQR on the purple side. “Where did you get this?” I ask amazed, but Jason just shakes his head. “You mean… Someone else… Did Percy?” Jason nods. “But.. But how/” “Well,” Jason begins to explain. “He got some Hecate kids to duplicate the first two beads off of his necklace for you. Then he got this year’s bead for you when they were handing them out. Percy told me to give it to you a few days ago, but I left it in a drawer thinking you would find it. Obviously, I was wrong. Anyways you should wear it tonight.” I nod agreeing with him, speechless as Jason puts the necklace on me. 

                When he finishes, he ruffles my hair. “You’re all set to go my little zombie.” He says mockingly. “Haha _stormy_ , I’ll be going now.” I only get the door part way open before Jason pulls me back towards him and into a passionate kiss.  We kiss like that for a little while before he pulls away. “That was for good luck.” Jason says, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. I laugh and walk towards the door. Before I open it, I tilt my head wondering if the door is still in the same position that I had left it in. I just shake my head and ignore it, walking out the door. I look around and see Percy walking this way, smiling and looking as happy as he could possibly be. _That was a close one,_  I think as I pull the door shut behind me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I'll try to get the next chapter up a lot sooner! :D

**Percy’s P.O.V.**

                I smile as I walk towards Cabin 13. I walk up to the door and I’m about to knock when I notice that it’s already open. I open the door expecting to see Nico sitting on his bed, probably blankly staring at a while he waits. Instead, I see Jason and Nico kissing. Not just _kissing_ , but an intense possessive kiss that can only happen when you _really_ love someone.

                I watch for a few moments, stunned and unable to move. The moment I am able to form a coherent thought, the first thing I can think of is how hot what I’m seeing is. That thought causes heat to travel through my body and goosebumps form on my skin. My heart races and it becomes hard to breathe.

                Then, suddenly, my heart stops and all the air escapes my lungs and they refuse to take another breath. I look at them again, this time I see that they are happy. That they are in a relationship and I shouldn’t be flirting with Nico. I shouldn’t even be going on a date with Nico.

                I start to panic and quickly leave the room, cracking the door behind me. My thoughts start to race and I don’t like where they are going. I look around for a place to hide and decide to hide behind the cabin across from Cabin 13. I run there as fast as I can and lean against the wall behind me. I slide down, staring blankly at the ground in front of me. I let my thoughts take control, and sadly, my thoughts decide to declare war.

                It’s extremely confusing as I participate and listen to both sides of the argument. _That was extremely hot,_ one side of me thinks. _But in a relationship there’s only two people,_ another part of me thinks. _It would be selfish to even_ try _to get close to Nico_. _I know,_ half of me admits. _But did you see the way he looked in that jacket. Yes I did, but I also saw how possessive Jason was,_ the other half of me point out.

                 I shake my head and clear my thoughts. _Look,_ I think to myself, _you have a date with Nico. So push those thoughts to the side and pick him up from his cabin like you said you would._ I smile, not really _my_ smile, but the well practiced one.  I walk out from behind the cabin walking towards Cabin 13 while piecing together my bubbly attitude.

                I am halfway to Nico’s cabin when he walks out. Nico looks really hot, not that he doesn’t usually look hot. But, it’s in a different way than usual. He’s wearing the white jacket I saw earlier and it contrasts with the rest of his clothes and makes his skin look darker. The sleeves are folded in a way that makes him look relaxed, and the bracelets he’s wearing have the same affect. But the best part is the v-neck t shirt. It shows off his collar bones. _Damn,_ I start to think, but I mentally shake away those thoughts.

                I look at his face and, for a moment, I can’t breathe. His face is flushed, his eyes darkly gleaming. But then I realize why he looks this way and a sudden pain stabs straight through my chest. But I keep smiling, trying to focus on Nico and not my morbid thoughts. I go to ruffle his hair to distract myself, but I stop myself moments before I do. I stop because it’s obvious that someone else had just done exactly that.  Even though his hair looks good messy and ruffled, it hurts to see a reminder that someone is closer to Nico than I am.

                “So,” I start to ask awkwardly. “Uh.. what do you say to a nice stroll to the hill?”

                 “I think that sounds tolerable.” I look at Nico and can’t decide whether he’s joking or not.

                “Cool,” I say hoping that it was a joke. “Because I’ve been running around for the past half hour.”

                Nico gives me a confused look, “really?” I nod with a smile.

                 “What were you doing?” I smirk hearing the curiosity in his voice. “Setting some stuff up,” I answer in a laid back tone.

                “What were you setting up?” He asks obviously growing more curious by the second, but the only response I give him is a mischievous smirk.

                “I’m serious Jackson, what did you set up.” His frustrated tone makes me want to laugh, but instead my smirk grows wider as I answer.

                 “Guess you are just going to have to wait and see.” Nico chuckles and I take that as my cue to start walking and Nico walks besides me.  We walk toward the hill silently, but it’s not a cold and lonely silence. It’s a warm, comforting, and somehow flirtatious silence. I smile and enjoy this feeling.

                Then for some unknown reason, I decide to remind myself of what I saw earlier today. I look at the ground, hoping Nico doesn’t notice my sudden change in attitude. _He doesn’t need me,_ I think. _They are happy together, doesn’t that mean I should be happy for them?_ I try to stop thinking, already feeling the burning sensation behind my eyes. I try not to blink. Knowing that if I do, tears will end up running down my face. I also know that if he asks why I’m crying, with everything else that has happened today, I won’t be able to stop myself from telling him what I saw.

                I shake my head and try to clear my head. _I need to focus,_  I think to myself, _I need to enjoy myself. Even if it doesn’t last,_ a cynical part of me thinks. I shake my head once again, trying to stop my thoughts from taking another dark turn.

                “Hey Percy, you look really upset. Are you sure you are ready for this?” Nico asks, his voice heavily laced with his concern for me. I smile, feeling comfort in his concern.

                “Yeah I’m ready,” I say. “Shutting myself away from the rest of the world won’t help.”

                “You’re right,” Nico states.  “That doesn’t  help, it’s just running away from your problems.” I look at Nico sadly, guessing that he was talking from personal experience.

                “Anyways,” I say cheerfully, trying to change the subject. “We are almost there.”

                “Thank you Captain obvious.” Nico mocks and I laugh before explaining.

                “I said that because I want you to close your eyes.”

                “Why?” He asks nervously before biting on his bottom lip. I try not to stare at him biting his lip as I answer.

                “Because I set everything up and I kind of want one of those big reveal moments.” I say dramatically.

                “Seriously?” He asks and I nod.

                “Seriously. Now, will you trust me and close your eyes?” I ask seriously. He starts to shake his head but I give him my signature puppy eyes and he sighs. I know I’ve won.

                “Fine, but I’m warning you Jackson,” he threatens. “If I fall you are _sooooo_ dead.” He closes his eyes and I smile from a combination of triumph and relief.

                “No peaking,” I tease. I’m like 99.9% sure that he rolls his eyes when I say that.

                 “Yeah yeah, no peaking. I get it.” I grab Nico’s hands and slowly, not to mention carefully, guide him up the hill. Halfway there I look at Nico and notice he’s blushing. I smile knowing that it’s _my_ fault that he’s blushing. _With his eyes closed and that bright pink blush Nico looks younger,_ I think. _No wait, not younger. He looks more his age._

                We get to the top of the hill and I look around at everything I have set up. What I did was lay a black picnic blanket across the top of the hill with plates and cups from the Argo on top. The sun is just starting to set, making the clouds look like cotton candy and the ocean like golden silk.

                I step to the side and smile at Nico.”You can open your eyes now.” Nico slowly opens his eyes and looks around. His eyes open wide in surprise and his face becomes a deep shade of red.

                “You set this up?” Nico asks in awe. I nod.

                 “Yeah. I like to come here to think,” I explain. “It’s a really beautiful sunset don’t you think?” He nods, his wide eyes looking out onto the horizon. “Come on, let’s sit down.” I say before I give his hands a light squeeze and pull him towards the blanket. 

                I let go of his hands and sit down. I grab my cup and it instantly fills with blue coke as I bring it towards my mouth. Nico nervously shifts his weight before sitting down. He crosses his legs and grabs his cup and it instantly fills with a dark red liquid. Nico takes a sip and relaxes. He then taps his plate and freshly cooked Fettuccine, a bread stick, and a fork appears.

                “From what’s on your plate, I can only _guess_ what you are drinking.” I tell him and he chokes on his drink. “ _So_ , I guessed right?” I ask as he coughs. When Nico stops coughing, he looks at me and the blush that had finally calmed down flares up again.

                 “Uh.. Yeah, I kind of forgot wine isn’t what kids my age usually drink.”

                 “That’s alright,” I explain. “I just found it different and kind of-“ I stop speaking, preventing myself from saying something I might regret. Again I remember the scene I stumbled onto and it only makes me sure that I need to forget my feelings as soon as possible.

                “Kind of what?” Nico asks nervously making me realize that stopping mid sentence probably wasn’t the best idea.

                “Kind of funny,” I say calmly.  He shrugs, apparently believing me as he takes another sip. I let out a small sigh of relief. “So,” I say slowly. “I’m going on a hunch here and guess that you’ve been drinking your whole life.” Nico nods. “And you’re Italian, so not to stereo type you, but I’m guessing you know your Fettuccine.” Nico laughs and I smile, listening to his laughter is like somehow managing to live being in the center of two great prophecies.

                “Thanks for not ‘stereotyping’ me,” he say sarcastically.

                “You’re welcome.” I reply sincerely. “So, we are by the ocean watching the sunset. You know, classy stuff, and I was planning to eat pizza and drink blue coke.”

                 Nico shrugs, “nothing’s wrong with pizza.” “I know that, but you picked a meal that’s _way_ better than mine.”

                “Really?” Nico asks with a smirk.

                I nod, “really. So, I’m going to make a daring request and ask you to change my meal to the same as yours.”

                “You sure?” Nico asks with a smile that says he’s betting that I will say no. Just in spite of that, I confidently nod. I wonder what everything will taste like as Nico shrugs. Nico taps my plate and the food appears in a blink of an eye. Nico reaches to touch the cup in my hand and hesitates slightly before tapping my glass.

                I watch curiously as my blue coke turns purple. Slowly, the purple fades and it becomes the same dark liquid that’s in Nico’s cup. I take a sip and my eyes close as the flavor hit my tongue. The wind is a strong flavor, but seems perfect. It’s sweet and slightly sour. “It’s really good,” I say as I open my eyes.

                “Careful,” Nico says while chuckling. “It’s a strong wine. So you’ll get drunk easily if you’re not careful.” I nod, only barely paying attention as I take another sip. I put the glass down and scoop some food up with my fork and put it in my mouth. A flavor so perfect and indescribable washes over my tongue causing me to close my eyes in pure bliss.

                  I hear laughing and I open my eyes. I look at Nico and see that he’s blushing while watching me with amusement. “What?” I ask, my mouth still full.

                “Do you need to be alone with your food?” I swallow my food before speaking.

                 “No why?”

                “Um..” He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well I just thought that you might want some time to be alone with your food because you moaned, like really loudly.” I freeze and my heart stops, my fork halfway to my mouth.

                “Wait…” I say slowly. “Really? I just…” Nico nods and I feel my face heat up. _Let’s just hope that the last time I embarrass myself,_ I think as I drink from my cup. 

                “Um… Percy?” Nico ask nervously.

                “Yeah,” I say, finally putting my cup down.

                “Did you forget what I said about the wine?”

                “What-“ _Oh,_ I think as I stop mid sentence, _that’s right. I’ll get drunk really fast if I’m not careful._ “No,” I answer calmly, “I didn’t.”

                “Are you sure?” Nico asks with a raised eyebrow. I nod, but I instantly regret it as a wave of dizziness hits me. “So if you remember,” Nico teases. “Why did you drink more than half your cup already?” I look down at my cup and see that he’s right.

                “Oops,” I say, realizing that for some reason my mind is actually unusually calm and focused.

                “Good thing I put a limit on how much you can drink. You have the rest of that cup and then you’re cut off.” Nico says as he obviously tries not to laugh. The amused look in his eyes is cute. _Wait is that amusement?_ I think it over trying to make a decision. _Yes…Wait no. No it is amusement,_ I think finally deciding. _It’s just mixed with another emotion._ The next thing I realize is that he is looking at me like he loves me. _No,_ I think as I shake my head. _Don’t make assumptions, just ask him._

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, barely aware that I’m whining.

                “Like what?’ He ask suddenly looking very confused.

                “Like-“ I stop, wondering if I should tell him. “Like you like me.” I blurt out, not caring about how drunk I might sound. But when I see how surprised Nico is, I really don’t know if I’m drunk or just starting to get a grasp on reality.

                “Don’t answer that,” I say sadly. Because what the hell am I saying, Nico’s in a relationship. He in a relationship and he’s _happy_ in that relationship. _Why am I even on this date right now?_ I think sadly looking at Nico. I pick up my drink and impulsively finish it, trying to drown out my thoughts.

                “Percy, what’s wrong?” Nico asks with a concerned look. “Why shouldn’t I answer that?” I just shake my head and put my empty cup down. “Percy, what’s going on in your head?” I just shake my head again because I don’t know if he wants me to know about his relationship with Jason. “Why Percy?” Nico shouts. “Because if you don’t tell me why, I’m going to answer that question!” I see tears form in his eyes.

                “Nico,” I say exhaustedly. “I just don’t want to know.”

                “That’s not true!” He shouts angrily. “That can’t be true,” he adds his voice barely above a whisper. “That can’t be true or you wouldn’t have asked.”

                I look at Nico, his face is covered in rage and pain. Despite that I stay silent, afraid that if I answer I won’t be able to control my emotions and I’ll lash out. I don’t want to hurt him. It’s the one thing I hope to never do. Unable to do anything else, I get up and start to walk away. I only get a step or two before Nico grabs my wrist.

                “Percy,” he says, his voice steady and determined. “Stop trying to run away and talk to me. Don’t start making the same mistakes I made. Trust me, if you start heading down this path, you’ll have the hardest time trying to get off of it. The whole time you end up stick on that path, you will be lonely. You will be lonely even if you are surrounded by people who care about you. You will feel completely alone. So I’m telling you, just say it. I don’t care if it hurts me. Just say it.”

                 I turn around and rip my wrist out of his hand. “No!” I yell furiously at him, even though the person I’m mad at is myself. “I don’t want to tell you! I don’t want to hurt you! But I know if I don’t, I’ll hurt you! So I don’t know what to do! So yes, I tried to run away from my problems!” Suddenly I’m only able to speak in a shaky whisper. “And for a moment, it felt right. I felt better and my problems disappeared.”

                Nico steps carefully towards me. “Percy I know how you are feeling right now. So just tell me what’s bugging you, we can figure it out from there. Okay?” He teaches for my face and I snap. I just can’t handle this heart shattering pain of knowing that I can’t have him. That he’s already taken.

                The ground starts to shake around me and I step angrily away from Nico. “Don’t tease me.” I sneer. “I don’t know how relationships work in your head, but in mine there’s usually only two people in a relationship.”

“What are you-“ Nico starts to ask before his eyes widen in a mixture of realization and shock. “Percy, it’s not-“

                “Stop!” I shout and the ground starts to shake more. Nico’s whole body is shaking and he is barely able to stand, but I’m perfectly fine in this chaos. “I don’t care! I’ve had my heart toyed with enough already!” I laugh sadly and the ground stops shaking, similar to the eerie silence of being in the eye of a storm. “Annabeth wasn’t the first to play games with emotions.” I say, feeling something break inside of me and my scowl turns into a sick, twisted sadistic smile.

                “She wasn’t the first to break my heat just like Rachel wasn’t even my first crush. Hell, I don’t even think I was in love with Annabeth!” I laugh again, this time sounding more than slightly insane. “I bet you want to know who my first crush, my first love was. I bet you want to know the whole story of how they viciously betrayed me.” I pause for dramatic effect. “It was a long time ago, well maybe not, but it sure feels like it. You want to know who it was?” I pause again, watching as Nico just stares at me with wide eyes. “It was Luke Castellan,” I whisper, treating it like the world’s biggest secret. I watch as Nico’s eyes somehow open even wider in shock because of my big reveal.

                “Surprising right! You didn’t know, you couldn’t have, because no one knew. Over and over I had to force myself to believe that he was gone. That he was a traitor.” I say, feeling my insanity and anger fade into sadness and pain as I remember my past. Just like that, the threat of the ground beginning to shake again is gone. “I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let that happen to me again. I convinced myself I was straight. I had it all figured out, then you came along and made me question if I was really doing the right thing.”

                “Then,” I take in a shaky breath. “Then you disappeared, your last words to me repeating in my head. How it was my fault she died. That convinced me that I was doing the right thing. I found hope in Annabeth, not love, just hope. Not even hope really, just stability, but then it all started falling apart. As it was all falling apart and crashing down around me you showed up.” Another sad laugh escapes past my lips.

                “When Annabeth betrayed me, you gave me hope and helped me pick up the broken pieces of myself. I thought that maybe I had a chance, but I should have known.” I shake my head, hating how I never see the pattern repeating until it’s too late. “I should have known the moment I pulled out this blanket, in that very moment, I should have known this was doomed to fail.” I finish speaking, my throat burns and tears run down my face.

“What do you mean _this_ blanket? What do you mean _over_?” Nico asks with a shaky voice.

                “Another tear rolls down my face as another wave of pain washes over me. Nico tries to wipe it away, but I dodge his hand and I let it roll down my face. “This blanket, is the one Luke and I would use to meet up. We would watch the stars and the sea, we would eat snacks that he would sneak in.” I explain bitterly, finally angrily wiping the tears off my face. “And over, as in, you aren’t single. You have Jason, it hurts, but I understand. You are happy and you don’t need me, I understand.”

                “That’s-“ Nico tries to say something, but I cut him off.

                “No, don’t… Just please don’t,” I beg.

                “Jason’s a great guy, he’s amazing. I’m glad that you are both happy, you guys deserve to be. But just leave me alone okay, I just need to be alone. Just leave everything here and I’ll pick it up later.”

                “Percy-“ Nico tries to say, but I can’t. I just can’t deal with this right now, and I don’t want to make him choose. So I make the hardest decision since the moment I decided to stay on the side of the gods, I pick up my old mask and become the person I thought I had forgotten. I become the person who was able to stand up to Luke when he became evil. I become the person who can do what needs to be done, even if it kills them to do so.

                “Nico!” I yell my voice now sounding angry. “I said leave me alone!” I turn away from Nico because I know I’m going to end up crying. If Nico sees that, he’ll know I’m faking. “So go back to lover boy and tell him you love him. Don’t choose me when you have him.” I let a bitter laugh escape before I continue speaking, my voice steady despite the tears streaming down my face. “I’m an awful choice actually, I mean, who wants to date their sister’s murderer anyways?”

                I hear Nico break down and I almost give up the act and apologize for the awful things I’m saying. But the keyword is almost. So I just keep speaking these awful things I can’t help but think are true. “I’m probably the worst person you know. They call me a hero! Ha! I’ll be completely honest right now; I almost picked Luke over Olympus. I’m more of a villain than a hero!” Another bitter laugh escapes as I walk away.

                When I reach the bottom of the hill, I turn around and see that Nico is gone. I tear of the mask I’m wearing and let my pain wash over me; the pain leaves my mouth as painful, lonely, insecure sobs. I start to run, run as fast as I possibly can. I cry as I run, going anywhere and nowhere.

                When I finally stop, I realize that I somehow ended up in front of the showers. I go in and turn one on and quickly throw my clothes in my locker. Luckily no one else is here to hear me cry as the water soaks my hair and runs down my back.

                _Why does this always happen,_ I think. _Why do I fall in love with people who will only end up hurting me?_ I let out a heavy sigh, knowing that these kinds of thoughts aren’t going to get me anywhere. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down.

                _Think on the bright side,_ I think calmly to myself. _They are happy together, and Jason’s a great guy. Jason is actually kind of hot._ My eyes widen and my face heats up. _Wait… What? Where did_ that _come from?_ I shake my head and clear away my thoughts. _Well whatever that was, I shouldn’t think like that and I won’t let my thoughts wander like that again._

I am both embarrassed and ashamed as my drunken thoughts betray me. The image of Nico and Jason kissing take control of my thoughts. Remembering how possessive Jason was and the way Nico’s face was glowing a faint red when he walked out the door sends a heat wave straight down and causes my breathing to become unstable.

                I’m practically gasping for air with each inhale as I shake my head violently, trying to remove these thoughts from my mind. It’s not working. It’s not working and the room is getting hotter, or is my body getting hotter. I don’t know either way, it doesn’t matter. I’m starting to feel desperate  and the need for some sort of friction.

                _Stupid wine,_ I think frustratedly.  _I’m dizzy, yeah, just dizzy. I’m not…. I’m not horny. That would be horrible of me to think of them like that._

                But even as I deny it, I feel myself become hard. I try to stop where this is going and clear my thoughts and turn the knob on the shower so that cold water pours out. But it doesn’t help, if anything it makes my issue worse.  The cold water running over my hot skin is a pleasant shock. I moan and stop trying to fight my mind.

                My mind messes with me and I remember how Jason kissed Nico, gentle and passionate while being extremely possessive. _What if he kissed you like that,_ my mind teases me. _What if he kissed you like that only a little more possessive and a little less gentle?_ My mind plays out the way that might feel like. I lean against the shower wall and run a hand through my wet hair.  The memory of the way Jason looked at me last night and Nico’s blush when I was straddling him, my face only a few inches from his.

                My thoughts become fragments of things that have tormented me and created a sexual tension that I couldn’t release. In my head I see Nico’s smile, the way he blushes, and how he was dressed tonight! Gods that was _so_ hot. Then I see Jason’s smirk, the overconfident look that appears in his eyes sometimes,  and his possessiveness.

                Finally I snap, and I can’t control myself anymore as I wrap my hand around my throbbing member and stroke myself slowly. An idea pops in my head as I let out a breathy moan. I focus and there is a tug in my gut before a thin rope of water wraps around my body. The cold water starts to slide against my skin and makes it hard for me to keep my moans quiet. I stroke myself a little faster as the water passes over my nipple and caresses the crook of my neck.

                I give up suppressing my moans as I start to reach the best part. The part where I almost reach the climax before I slowing down so that this feeling goes on for a while, before I finally give in to the need for release. I do this once and it is beginning to get difficult to keep standing, but I manage it and find this task both demanding and exciting.

                I’m go through this process two more  times before I hear the door to the showers slam open.

                “Percy!” I hear someone shout angrily. “Where the _fuck_ are you?” There is a pause before they shout again. “Percy!” This time I recognize who it is. It’s Jason, and he sounds _pissed_.

                I know I should stop and do something before he finds me, but I don’t and it just feels too good to stop. So I choke back my moans. This new risk of getting caught is exciting, plus I just got drunk for the first time. Throw that together and you have a reckless horny risk taking demigod. Even though I’m choking back my moans, it still doesn’t seem like enough, so I cover my mouth with the back of my free hand.

                “Percy!” Jason shouts sounding closer to where I am than before. I close my eyes and ignore the threat of just how complicated this situation will become if he finds me.

                After a moment I hear shower curtains pushed roughly aside, but it sounds like it’s the next stall over so I ignore it. That was a big mistake; because I hear Jason’s speak near my ear. “Well, well,well, what do we have here?” The strange thing is that his voice isn’t angry anymore. Instead it sounds deeper and more intimate…. There’s also something else, but I just can’t quite figure out what it is. “Honestly,” he continues in this new tone. “What am I going to do with you? Especially since you made Nice cry, and I look around for you only to find you like _this._ ”

                Finally my brain realizes this is actually happening and I gasp and my eyes shoot open. The water around me stays until the moment I see Jason’s face. Then I realize what unnamed thing was heavily laced in Jason’s voice. I know now what it was because there is a predatory look in his eyes and a sadistic smirk on his lips. I feel my face not only heat up, but burn, as the water around me crashes down.    


	7. The Last Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so this took forever, so I'm so sorry. But this is it, the last chapter and I've spent forever trying to perfect it. This is a huge milestone for me because technically I've been working on this for two years. So I hope you have enjoyed this story, and thank you for all of you who have followed this story and favorited it and gave me reviews. Without those I don't know if I actually would have ever finished this. So this chapter is dedicated to all you awesome readers. :)

**Jason’s P.O.V.**

                I’m pacing. I’m nervous and wondering about what could be happening. If Nico is okay; if Nico has told Percy his biggest secret If maybe, just maybe Percy likes Nico back.

                Suddenly, a shadow appears in front of me. Before I can figure out what is happening, Nico appears from the shadow and grabs onto the front of my t-shirt. He’s crying and I’m suddenly hit with a wave of anger, but before I do anything stupid I decide to wait and get all the facts first.

I wait for him to stop crying ant then lead him to the bed and have him sit down.

                “So what happened?” I ask calmly.

                “I-I saw a side of Percy I never thought I’d see.”

               Suddenly, my anger is back because I can only assume the worst. I try to keep calm and wait for him to explain. After a few moments of feeling my rage build up I can no longer wait. “Nico,” I try to say calmly, but failing drastically. “What does that mean?”

               Nico lets out a chocked sob and wipes his eyes. “It’s just, I know he’s been through a lot. I just never knew how much until today. He… he was so upset that…that he acted like he hated me.”

               “What! He- “ I stop midsentence, realizing he said that he _had acted like. “_ Wait…” Nico nods slowly somehow knowing, I had finally caught on to what he had said.

               “Acted,” Nico says flatly.

               “How do-“

               “I know that?” Nico finishes and sighs. “Someone recently showed me that being the hero doesn’t mean that you don’t have problems.” Nico explains and flashes me a small, broken smile.

               My anger melts away and all I want to do is make him feel better. So I grab the chair from Nico’s desk and sit down in front of him. “Okay, so tell me everything that happened.” I say calmly and kindly.

               “Well everything started just fine, and then Percy got drunk.” I raise an eyebrow, but stay quiet and let him continue. “Sometime after he got drunk he noticed how much I was looking at him. He asked me why and then quickly said he didn’t want to know why right after he asked why.”

               Nico runs a slightly shaky hand through his hair. “I argued with him,” Nico continues explaining. “ I said that if he didn’t want to know, he wouldn’t have asked.” He glances over at me nervously and I nod agreeing with him.

               “H-he broke down and explained why he didn’t want to know. He told me that he had saw us kissing earlier, and that he realizes he doesn’t have a chance with me. I tried to explain it to him, but he wouldn’t listen and then made a comment about it was doomed from the start and how he should have known there was no chance it could work out.”

               “Why did he say that?” I ask in confusion.

               Nico opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it quickly and starts tapping a finger against hi leg. I notice this and it make me said because I know it means he wants to tell me, but he’s scared of how I’m going to react.

               “Nico, “ I say softly. “You know you can tell me anything. You know I won’t judge you or him and that I can keep a secret.”

               Nico nods. “I know,” he says. “It’s just… It’s not my secret to tell. But, if I don’t tell you, you won’t completely understand the situation.”

               “You can tell me, I’m sure that Percy will understand.”

               He thinks for a moment, looking at me sadly. “Okay, I’ll tell you because I trust you.” Nico takes a deep breath and looks at the ground. “He said…. He said he should have know it was not going to work out the moment he pulled out a black picnic blanket that we used for on the hill.”

               “A black picnic blanket?” I ask, being extremely confused as to what a picnic blanket has to do with a relationship being doomed.

               Nico sighs and looks  up at me with exhausted eyes. “I’m going to explain this as quickly and clearly as I can, because I’m still shocked about this myself.” I look at him carefully wondering what could be so shocking that it still has Nico shaken up.

               “Apparently ,” Nico explains nervously. “He used to use that picnic blanket with Luke.” I raise an eyebrow not seeing how this adds up. “And well, it turns out that Percy was in love with Luke.”

               I stare at Nico blankly before what he just said sinks in. Suddenly, the way Percy is makes sense. The hero was in love with the villain, no wonder Percy and Annabeth were a perfect couple. Percy was acting, none of it was real. He was acting like the perfect boyfriend, the perfect hero.

               “Holy shit.” I say softly as everything I thought I knew is turned upside down.

               “Despite how he said everything to me, I could see what he actually meant.” Nico tells me, his face painted clearly with the pain weighing on his heart. “Everything he said to hurt me… Was actually just something he thinks.. That he hates, about himself.” Tears start running down his face and I get up and move so that I’m sitting behind Nico. I wrap my arms him and pull him close before gently resting my chin on his shoulder.

               “What did he tell you?” I ask. “Wait,” I say quickly. “No, that’s not what I want to know. What did he actually mean?”

               “He said that he still thinks that he’s responsible for Bianca’s death and that he’s not a hero.” Nico explains exhaustedly.

               “Why did he say that?” I ask, confused about how he could think Biancas’s death was his fault and that he’s not a hero.

               “For Bianca’s death, I’m not sure.” Nico says. “But, he told me that he isn’t a hero, that Luke was the hero. He said that he was the villain because Luke was willing to give up everything to save Olympus in the end while Percy would have been willing to burn the world if there had been a way to save Luke. That  whole time he was alone, so alone.” Nico says slowly, his voice becoming empty and hallow.

               “Nico,” I say as I begin to panic because I can feel the emotions drain out of him and that I’m quickly losing him. That somewhere inside his head, he is falling apart. “Nico,” I say again after a few moments of soul crushing silence. “Nico please talk to me, what’s wrong? I don’t want to lose you.”               

               “Jason,” Nico says flatly. “I’m fine. It just hurt too much, I’m alright now.” Nico shifts uncomfortably in my arms and then, before I realize what’s going on I’m holding on to nothing but a shadow that quickly disappears.

               I panic and look around, and look around frantically, hoping that Nico is somewhere nearby. I’m about to get up and run through the cam to look for him when the shadows collect around a chair in front of me. A second later Nico is sitting on the chair and I can’t believe what I see. It’s Nico, but a broken and depressed version of Nico. The same version I saw the day we encountered Cupid. The same broken, empty, and scared look in his eyes. But this time, I am able to see what he’s scared of. He’s scared of feeling pain and hurting, of facing that pain alone.

               “Nico, why did you move?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

               “I couldn’t sit there,” he says flatly. “It hurt, it made me feel weak.” The monotone of his voice breaks my heart.

               “You weren’t being weak, Nico. You were feeling pain. You felt sad, you felt emotions.” I sigh, ”Nico I know you are used to running away from your problems. Used to being scared and alone, but I’m here for you now. You aren’t alone any more. We can face your problems together.” I finch with another exhausted sigh, my eyes burning from the tears threatening to run down my face.

               I look away from Nico, looking at the objects in the room and us them as anchors to reality. _As a way to run away from your feelings,_ I think spitefully at myself. _You’re worse than him about running away from your feeling and you know it._

               “Jason,” Nico says, his voice still flat. “Are you okay?”

               I laugh at that. I laugh at my life, at how cruel the world can be. “No,” I explain sharply. “I’m not okay. I’m scared. I’m scared and upset.” Something in his eyes flashes by, a sadness from pain. I realize I can get him back, it will hurt, but I have to help him. I just need to let my emotions show, it’s going to hurt but I need to do it.

               I take a shaky breath in and let my emotions wash over me and drown me. “Nico,” I say in the voice I hate. The voice that shakes and breaks, the one that shows exactly how I feel.

               “I’m scared.” I say as I look at him while the tears start to run down my face. My vision starts to become blurry as I cry. “I’m scared that I’m losing you. I’m just so scared… Scared that you’ll leave me… We just found this, found us… I don’t want this to fall apart before it even begins.”

               “I’m upset, I’m upset and hurt.” I say, seeing that Nico is starting to feel emotion again. It hurts to see the pain in his eyes. But, it hurts more to see nothing. To see an empty dead look in his eyes. “I don’t want to be alone and have to hide how I really feel… I don’t want you to feel like you need to run away from your feelings… I don’t want you to feel alone. I’m here for you, to hold you when you need to cry and to listen to every word you say.”

               I give Nico a small, broken smile. “I want to be there for you as long as you will let me.” I explain to him. “I want to see your smile and hear your voice. I want to be there for the good and the bad!” I take a deep breath. “Nico, will you let me do that? Do you trust me enough to let me help you through this?”

               I just watch Nico silently, hoping he’ll let me in, that he’ll let me in, that he’ll let me help him. Nico starts crying, the tears silently falling as he gets up and nods. He leans towards me and gives me a soft kiss.

               “Yes,” he says shakily. “I trust you.” Nico sits on my lap and wraps his arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around his waist as her rests his head on my shoulder and cries. I hold him tightly, letting my own tears fall down my face.

               I pull Nico even closer and his sobs become more violent and louder. He hold onto me tighter as his entire body shakes from the broken and exhausted sobs that leave his mouth.

               We sit like this until his breathing returns to normal, holding onto each other as tightly as we can. Nico slowly leans back slowly and looks me in the eyes.

               “You need to go…”

               “What?!” I say loudly , panicking.

               Nico’s eyes widen. “I’m so sorry,” He says panicking as he scrambles for words. “That came out wrong. I just meant that you need to go find Percy. You’ve helped me feel better and think clearer than I have in years. Which has also made me realize, Percy… He’s out there… Alone and in pain… No one deserves that…”

               I pull Nico back into a tight hug, relieved that it wasn’t as bad as what it had first sounded like. “Are you sure you want me to go?”

               Nico nods and I loosen my tight hold on him so that I can see his face to make sure he isn’t lying. “Are you completely sure?” I ask gently. He nods again.

               “He needs someone right now, I need to call Hazel anyways so I’ll be fine.”

               I give Nico a quick kiss as he gets off of me and  I smile softly at him before getting up. I get up and head out the door, already thinking where Percy could be.

_So,_  I think quickly as I walk and look around me. _The son of the Sea God would probably go somewhere with a lot of water to hide and calm down. There are three areas near the camp that her could go like that. The showers, the lake, and the ocean. The lake was where Annabeth.. .. So I doubt he would go there. The ocean is what had been the scenery at the date and I can’t follow him there. So, I have to hop he’s in the showers._

               I focus on the air around me until there is a familiar tug in my gut and I start floating. _Up,_ I think and the air responds and pushes me up before I direct the wind to push me towards the showers.

_Percy better not have done something stupid,_ I think as I land a few feet from the door. _Why did that idiot get drunk? In fact, why is he such an idiot at times?_

               I sigh and decide he needs at least a slight scare. I search mentally through my masks and pick out the angry praetor.   _That’ll do,_ I think sadistically.

               I let the fake anger wash over me; I feel my fists clench and my smirk become a scowl. I open the door harshly and let it slam against the wall.

               “Percy!” I shout. “Where the fuck are you?” I stop and close the door behind me quietly and lock it. “Percy!” I shout again.

               I walk slowly down the small aisle between the showers and lockers and notice that there is only one shower being used. Halfway there I shout, “Percy!” He doesn’t reply, so I walk up to the shower and roughly push the curtains aside. Knowing it will definitely get his attention.

               But it doesn’t get his attention, and I don’t see what I was expecting. Percy is masturbating, and doesn’t even know I’m there.

_Oh my gods,_ I think as I look at him. His face is flushed, eyes closed, hair damp, and the back of his hand is pressed lightly against his mouth. There is water wrapped around him and he’s leaning against the shower wall.

                I bite my bottom lip as heat forms at the base of my neck and crawls down my spine, leaving my skin tingling and covered in goose bumps. I feel my self control suddenly vanish and I quickly walk up to him, silently positioning myself in front of him. I quietly place my hand next to his head and bend my arm and lean into his left ear.

                “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” I ask my voice nearing a growl and sounding angry. “Honestly, what am I going to do with you? Especially since you made Nico cry and then I find you like this.” I pull my head back and watch his face, waiting to see his reaction when he finally realizes what’s going on.

                For a second he’s silent, and then he gasps loudly and his eyes shoot open. I hear water splash against the tile floor and I smirk. Percy’s face turns bright red and I feel my smirk widen. I lean towards his ear again, knowing my breath will ghost against his ear. “DON”T STOP just because I’m here, go ahead and continue.” I say demandingly.

                “J-jason,” Percy stutters as he places both of his hands on my chest. I look into his eyes and see how panicked and nervous he is and suddenly feel awful.

                “Oh gods!” I exclaim with wide eyes. “Percy, I’m sorry!” I step back and look away from him. “I’m so sorry! I just… I-I.. I don’t know.. I don’t have a good reason for doing that to you! There is no good reason… I’m sorry, I lost control. I’ll leave, and if you hate me after this,” I pause and feel my eyes start to burn. “I’ll understand… That was unacceptable for me to do. I’m so sor-“

                Percy cuts me off from apologizing a million more times by pulling on the front of my shirt and pulling me roughly into a passionate kiss. At first, I’m shocked, so I don’t react for a few moments before kissing back. A startling realization occurs to me and I pull away. “Percy, you’re drunk. I don’t want to take advantage of you and you end up hating me because I did.” I explain as I manage to find some self control.  

                “Jason, I want this, I want you. I won’t hate you.” Percy then pulls me against him and whispers in my ear. “But… If you don’t help me cum, I might hate you. Mainly because, you’re sexy and I’m horny as fuck. So… What are you going to do _Jason Grace?_ ”

                Heat once again rolls down my spine, and I clench my fists as I somehow manage to keep my self control. “Stop. Unless you actually want this to happen, stop. I don’t know how much longer I can control myself.

                “Then don’t.” He says slowly. “Let go and do what you want to me.” I close my eyes and dig my nails into my palms.

                “Percy,” I say through clenched teeth. I hear a small laugh before I feel Percy kiss my neck. Whatever self control I had managed to hold onto disappears and I open my eyes slowly. The first thing I notice is that Percy is smirking at me victoriously.

                “Better?” He asks mischeviously.

                “You are going to regret that.” I grow as I feel the need to be aggressive and dominate Percy come back.

                “I don’t think I will. I think that I’m going to enjoy this.” His smirks starts to get wider but I roughly kiss him before working my way across his jaw. From the edge of his jaw I move to just below his ear and then slowly lick up and gently bite his earlobe. Percy moans and his hips roll forward, trying to grind against me.

                I smirk and start to kiss down his neck as one of my hands trace soflty down his side. I kiss the crook of his neck and he moans loudly.

                Then, suddenly he flips our positions in a blur of movement by pushing me roughly against the wall. I moan as he starts to kiss my neck roughly by sliding his teeth across my skin. I put my hand on the back of Percy’s neck and pull him into a kiss. Surprisingly , it’s Percy who works his tongue into my mouth first. Realizing what’s happening, I try to fight back and try to fight his tongue with my own.

                Percy breaks away from the kiss with a smirk. “I don’t want you fighting against me, so just relax.” I’m about to reply with a witty comment when I feel his hands sneak up the front of my shirt slowly and rest on my waist.

                I tilt my head and open my mouth to ask what he’s doing when a sudden temperature shock causes me to gasp loudly. The cold water trails across his hands and circles up my chest and down my arms before pulling them up. I struggle against them in confusion.

                “I said relax,” Percy says calmly in my ear before kissing my neck slowly. I lose my focus when he does that and he takes the opportunity to pull my arms up the rest of the way. The cold water circles higher on my arms until it reaches my wrists before connecting them.

                Percy pulls away from my neck with a small smirk. Slowly my mind puts together a coherent thought and I realize what he just did. “You kinky- oh _fuck_!” My words are cut off by a moan as Percy pushes his hand against my crotch.

                “What? You kinky fucker? And who is the one restrained here?” Percy says near my ear in a low voice. Despite wanting to put up a fight for dominance, I can only moan as he pulls his hand back up against my now throbbing erection. I struggle against my restraints as I moan louder as he torturously pushes his hand down slowly again. “Fuck Jason,” Percy growls. “You are making such slutty sounds. I just want to keep doing this to keep hearing more of those delicious moans.”

                I bite my bottom lip and force myself not to moan as he continues to slowly grind his hand against me. But for some reason, my moans find another way to escape. I feel a small amount of electricity move through my body and hit the water which I feel travel through the water and into Percy.

                Percy gasps and his eyes roll back. “Wh-what was that?’ He asks breathlessly. I realize that the electricity has an interesting affect on him in low amounts.  I focus on his hands on my waist and push a little more electricity through the water and into him through his hands. Which causes him to grip my waist tightly as he moans with a small shudder against my neck. I test my restraints and see I’m able to move, but before I can take advantage of that, he pushes against my erection roughly and I moan loudly. I lose my focus and the restraints tighten and I can no longer move.

                He then backs up a little and tugs at the bottom of my shirt, shooting me a _is this okay_ look and I laugh softly. “Are you seriously trying to ask me if it’s okay to take off my shirt when you are completely naked?”

                “I guess I am,” he chuckles as he pulls off my shirt which unfairly easily slips through the water restraining me. “But never mind.” He tosses my shirt somewhere behind him and lightly runs his hands down my torso. Percy stops at the waistband of my jeans, tracing it while he slowly drags his lips along the side of my neck.

                He then slips two of his fingers into my waistband and I moan as he slides his hand towards the button of my jeans.  _Wait…_ I think as I pant and moan. _The button on my jeans is metal a great conductor of… Oh, this is perfect._ I smirk and start to focus as he goes for the button. The moment he makes contact with the button, I send a sharp spark of electricity through the button to him. Percy moans loudly and leans against me, digging his nails into my skin. I send another, but smaller, wave of electricity and the water restraining me crashes down.

                I quickly make my next move, needing to act fast to prevent Percy from being able to do that to me again. I quickly put a hand on the back of his neck and kiss him as I flip our positions so I’m the one pushing him against the wall. I let a little electricity flow through my body as I kiss down my neck and wrap my hand around his hard member.

                Percy moans and grabs my shoulder in one hand and wraps the other around the back of my neck. I start to stroke slowly and kiss him sweetly. I then kiss down to the crook of his neck and suck on the skin gently so that it barely scrapes against my teeth while he moans. Then I work slowly so that I give him just enough pleasure to moan but not completely enough so it tortures him and makes him want and need more.

               I continue to suck and kiss at the crook of his neck for a while before Percy tries to say something. “I-if you don’t s-stop…. Mmm… Oh god…. I’m g-going to end u-up with a h-hickey.”

               “Good,” I growl. “Then everyone will know that you are _mine._ ” I feel him shudder under my touch because of my words and smirk as he moans.

               “F-fine,” Percy moans out. “If you are going to mark me… fuck… mark me a-as yours… You could ah ah at least have the de-decency to move faster!” I laugh and begin to stroke him a little faster as I go back to giving Percy a hickey. I pull away from his neck when I’m certain it’s noticeable and kiss him passionately. Percy moans into the kiss as he reaches down and undoes my jeans and pulls out my hard member. I moan against his lips as he starts to mimic my  strokes.

               I lean my head down and lick across his collarbone. Percy moans and pulls me closer and starts thrusting his hips and thrusting into his hand while quickening the pace of his own hand. I moan and start to thrust my hips too as I start to feel the buildup. I lean in to his ear and moan right against it. Which causes him to moan loudly and he kisses at the crook of my neck.

               Out of nowhere he bites the crook of my neck roughly. The shock of pain and rush of pleasure and starts to send me over the edge, but I hold off for a moment to warn Percy. “I-I’m g-going to-“ I moan out.

               He nods and moans, “m-me too!”

               “Gods Percy! Fuck!” I almost shout as I cum and Percy strokes a little slower while I ride it out. I finish and see that most of my cum is in his hand while the rest landed on his stomach and I raise an eyebrow while trying to catch my breath. Percy winks and then brings his hand up to his mouth and then tilts his head back and then licks his hand clean and if it hadn’t only been two seconds ago that I came I would be hard again.

               I smirk and kneel in front of him and lick my cum off his stomach because if he did that, I can at least deal with a little bit. _It’s not bad either, it’s actually quite enjoyable_ I think with a small smile before I kiss down his stomach to his hip and leave another possessive mark. Then I look at him nervously before licking up the shaft of his member which causes his eyes to flutter shut and he drabs a fistful of my hair to steady himself.

               I look him over quickly and notice that he’s holding back and trying not to take me and make me stay still and fuck my face until he cums. I smile slightly because I know something he doesn’t. I quickly like my lips and take him into my mouth and Percy lets out a startled whimper. Then I work my way quickly down to the base and stay there for a moment and then bobbing a few times. I go back down all the way again and swallow around him.

               “Jason!” Percy moans as he cums. Not sure of what else to do I swallow and bob my head a few more times making him moan and shiver. When I pull off of Percy he helps me up and uses his power over water to help clean us up quickly. I button my pants and look for my shirt as Percy goes to a locker and starts to pull his clothes on.

               I glance at him pulling his shir on and smile. I’m about to look away and search for my shirt when Percy catches my eyes with a playful smirk. “Looking for this?” He asks, my shirt dangling from his finger. I walk over and try to snatch my shirt away, but he moves the shirt just out of reach before he kisses me. I smile into the kiss until something hits me and I pull away quickly.

               “Shit!” I say as I grab my shirt from Percy and hastily put it on.

               “What,” Percy asks with a frown.

               “Nico,” I explain quickly in a panicked tone. “He’s worried sick about you, that’s why I acted angry. Come on, you’re coming with me.” I take Percy’s hand in my own and drag him out of the showers, hoping he doesn’t notice me unlocking the door.

               As soon as I step outside, I wrap an arm around his waist and pull him close. He gets a slight look of confusion before I push us into the air and we fly towards Cabin 13. Percy looks around wide eyed before what’s happened kicks in and the fear appears in his eyes as he hides his face into my shoulder and wrap his arm tightly around my neck.

               It only takes a little under a minute before we land on the ground again and then I realize that he’s shaking in fear and I feel so guilty. “Oh gods, Percy. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” I pull Percy close to me until he stops shaking.

               “I-it’s alright J-jason. It was a shock. No one really knows that I’m actually really scared of being in the air. On Blackjack it’s different, but planes and well any other form of flying usually freaks me out.” Percy lets out a shaky laugh. “Well unless your sister is there, then I have to steal up my nerves because we can only have one person deathly afraid of heights at a time.

               I laugh softly as Percy pulls away and wipes his eyes quickly and I act like I didn’t see him wipe tears out of his eyes. “Anyways,” Percy says cheerfully, already recovering. “Do you want to lead the way?”

               I shake my head. “He’ll want to see you first so go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.”

               He nods and slowly opens the door and carefully steps in. “Hey… Um Nico?” Percy says with a small smile.

               “Percy!” Nico shouts relieved. “Thank the gods! Are you alright?”

               “Yea-“ Percy lets out a small groan as Nico slams into him and squeezing him into the tightest hug I’ve ever seen. “Nico,” Percy says softly. “I’m really sorry I said those thing I shou-“’ Once again Nico effectively shuts Percy up, but this time with a kiss and I stare in shock. I wasn’t expecting Nico to do that and…. _Wait….Oh my gods,_  I think still kind of in shock. _Nico is moving his tongue into Percy’s mouth._ I watch in amazement and feel my body heat steadily rise.

               Luckily or unluckily, they pull away before my pants become uncomfortably tight. Then , very unfortunately, Nico looks at me with a confused and slightly mischievous look and then glances over Percy too. “Is there something I should know you two?” Nico asks casually and I freeze. I glance at Percy who looks as panicked as I feel.

               “Uh no, yes maybe.” I say quickly stumbling through my words trying not to act guilty but failing miserably. “’I mean, uh, Percy wants to be with me. I mean us! Together. All three of us.” I finish explaining as my face turns a dangerous bright red as I remember what happened in the showers.

               Nico now looks straight at Percy. “Is there anything else I should know?”

               “No?” Percy says in a semi high pitched voice and completely gives away that he’s hiding something.

               “Are you sure about that?” Nico asks teasingly and Percy nods quickly. “Oh really, how about the fact that you’re a –“ Nico’s voice drops into a whisper as he leans in towards Percy’s ear. Percy eyes go wide and he turns as bright red as mine was.

               “H-how did you-“ Percy starts and I hear more whispering, but unable to make out a single word of what he’s actually saying. “B-but I-I  can’t…” Percy says as his face somehow manages to turn a deeper shade of red.  Nico slowly pulls away.

               “Either you are going to tell him, or I am going to and if I have to I’m going to have to –’’ Nico leans in again and whispers again and Percy bites his lip and shakes his head as Nico pulls away giving Nico the signature puppy eye look, but Nico just responds with the most sadistic smirk I’ve ever seen him wear.

               “F-fine I’ll tell him… b-but can we at least go inside first?” Percy asks Nico cautiously.

               “Well of course,” Nico says and steps to the side and let’s Percy in, with me right behind him before shutting and locking the door. “Now, tell him or do I need to just do what I told you the punishment would be?”

               Percy whimpers and blushes, beginning to squirm a little. “I-I’ll do it….” Percy then slowly walks up to me, lightly putting his arms around my neck and leaning into my ear and whispering. “H-he told me I h-had t-to tell you the f-fact that I’m a c-cum slut.” Percy blushes and pulls away, glancing at me nervously and I just kiss him because I had already guessed that from the event earlier.

               I pull away slowly and then say with a smile, “ I kind of guessed that.” Percy blushes and Nico sneaks up behind him and wraps his arms around Percy’s waist and pushes himself up onto his toes and nibbles on Percy’s ear lobe which causes Percy to lean against me and moan against my neck.

               “See,” Nico says playfully. “’That wasn’t so bad, now you don’t have to worry about me making sure that our little cum slut doesn’t get any cum to taste for a while.” Nico chuckles and then kisses the back of Percy’s neck softly and intertwines his hand with mine. “I love you two so much.”’’’

               I chuckle as Percy blushes and I squeeze Nico’s hand and teasingly cuddle my head into Percy’s neck. “Yeah,” I say happily. “Same here, only I’m pretty sure I took both your first kisses in this relationship.” I laugh as they both blush.

               “I-I love you guys too, though I’m a bit more new to this than you.” Percy says shyly.

               I laugh. “You have also been farther in the sexual area than Nico which is very _naughty_.” I tease and Percy shudders and releases an unsteady breath out.

               I smile and both Nico and Percy smile too. “I-I don’t know about you two,” Percy says softly. “But, I’m basically dead on my feet right now, do you think we could do this tomorrow after some sleep. Right now I would just rather cuddle and fall asleep … Y-you know if that’s okay.” He finishes nervously.

               Nico gives me a quick look and I smile widely and pick up Percy bridal style to the bed and take off his shirt and pants because well, he’s hot and well sleeping in all your clothes isn’t comfortable. I slip of my shirt and jeans while I hear Nico do the same and Percy is blushing brightly the next time I glance at him and I smile and put my hand on the side of his cheek to comfort him.

               He leans into the touch and pulls me onto the bed as Nico climbs in behind him so Percy will be in the middle. We both put one arm around him and the other on the other’s waist. I smile and close my eyes, “goodnight my princes.” I say sleepily already drifting off into the land of dreams and fantasies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This won't be my last fanfic I swear, I have a few one shots to put up. But I also have another pjo/hoo planned with some hijack (hiccup/jack) crossover planned. I just want to get a majority of it done before I start posting so you guys just have to wait for me to start posting the chapters more regularly instead of waiting months between chapters. Because I always feel bad because I have a few authors that I want to finish it but it's been months or years and either you wait forever or you know it will never be finished.


End file.
